Max Verstappen recovered from a five-place gearbox penalty to claim his eighth successive victory in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, with team mate Sergio Perez adding to the celebrations for Red Bull as he completed a one-two result. Leclerc held on for the final podium position, denying seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (who pitted late on to net the fastest lap), while Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin ahead of the other Mercedes machine of George Russell to take fifth. Only 18 cars finished the race after a first-corner clash between Sprint podium finisher Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz led to both drivers retiring – the McLaren man clipping the inside wall at La Source and stopping at the side of the track, and the Ferrari nursing damage before being called in to retire (Formula1.)
