First emotional victory in F1 for Leclerc at Spa

One day after the tragic disappearance of his friend Anthoine Hubert, Charles Leclerc had the inscription affixed to his steering wheel “RIP Tonio” – “Rest in Peace Tonio”. Author of an impeccable takeoff from pole position, the Monegasque took the lead at the La Source hairpin. 

Behind, his teammate Sebastian Vettel with whom he shared the first row, was surprised by the Mercedes de Lewis Hamilton before catching the Briton braking in Les Combes.

The start of this mourning Grand Prix was eventful to say the least with a collision at the La Source hairpin between Kimi Räikkönen and a Max Verstappen got off to a bad start and tried to slip into a mouse hole that didn't really exist inside. 

The Dutchman's race stopped a few meters further on when he shot straight into the Raidillon de l'Eau Rouge, fortunately at a slow pace and without gravity. Behind, Räikkönen catches the back of Daniel Ricciardo. 

Stuck on the grid when the lights go out, Carlos Sainz abandoned a few loops further on at the last chicane of the Belgian track due to a loss of power. The Spaniard thus extended the neutralization period triggered by the scuffle at the start.

At the start, there was no change among the leaders, who maintained this order until the pit stops. Vettel opened the bottom on the 16th lap by swapping his soft tires for mediums. His early pit stop allowed him to take control of the race after the stop of Leclerc, Hamilton, then Bottas. 

The German's advantage will be short-lived since Ferrari asked him to let Leclerc pass again, which the four-time world champion did on the 27th pass. From there, the Monegasque was able to pick up his first Grand Prix victory, having come so close earlier this season in Bahrain and Austria. The 3rd opportunity was therefore the right one even if he had to resist Hamilton's return at the very end of the race. It is also Ferrari's first victory this season.

Behind, Vettel was unable to go the distance against the Silver Arrows and he had to pass some soft envelopes around ten laps from the goal. Hamilton therefore performed well in the championship by finishing 2nd, while Valtteri Bottas completed the podium, ahead of Vettel.

For his big debut at Red Bull Racing, Alexander albon comes out with honors. Starting from the back of the grid, the Thai, promoted during the summer break, moved up to 5th position. Albon took advantage of the abandonment of Lando Norris in the final loop of the race, during which he also overtook the Racing Point of Sergio Pérez, very lively on the Ardennes slide. The rookie of McLaren had had a superb race so far, sneaking inside at the start to move from 11th on the grid to 5th.

Daniil Kvyat took 7th place, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. The pilot Renault was able to return to the ranking and also benefited from the retirement of Antonio Giovinazzi on his penultimate lap. The Italian ofAlfa Romeo had nevertheless signed a very solid performance until then. Pierre Gasly, demoted during the summer and also very close to Anthoine Hubert, delivered a very deserving race by making several authoritarian overtakes. Despite tires in agony, the Normand held on until the end to finish 9th. Lance stroll won the last point at stake for Racing Point with 10th place.

In a very dark weekend, we will salute the standing ovation reserved for the late Anthoine Hubert in the 19th round. 19 as his racing number this season in Formula 2. 

After the tragedy of Saturday, the day dawned well on this Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps and 20 drivers took the start of a Grand Prix of Formula 1, in front of 90 fans in the stands and millions of television viewers. Because motorsport is a passion as exhilarating as it is cruel. 

Find in AUTOhebdo n°2232, on sale Monday evening in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands, the analysis of the Belgian Grand Prix by our special correspondents.