Verstappen become the fifth driver to win at Spa from further back than sixth, Hamilton records his third first lap retirement in Belgium and Gasly breaks a 69-year-old record. Here’s a statistic from each driver’s 2022 Belgian Grand Prix weekend!
🇳🇱 Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen dominated the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, taking victory from 14th on the grid. This was the 29th victory of Verstappen’s career. He became the eighth driver to take consecutive wins at Spa-Francorchamps and the first to win successive races at the track since Kimi Raikkonen won three in a row between 2004 and 2007.
Verstappen’s win from 14th marked only the fifth time that a race at Spa has been won by a driver who started from further back than sixth on the grid. In total, it was the seventh time that a World Championship race was won from 14th on the grid; the first time it happened since Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the 2018 German Grand Prix. Verstappen became the 14th driver to win from 14th or further back in World Championship history.
🇲🇽 Sergio Perez
Setting the third fastest time, Sergio Perez recorded his best Belgian Grand Prix qualifying result to date, beating his previous best result of fourth in 2018. Before the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, Perez had never previously finished above fifth place at Spa. This was the first time that Perez has finished a race at this track in the same position as where he started.
🇬🇧 Lewis Hamilton
The 2022 Belgian Grand Prix was the 14th time that Lewis Hamilton qualified in the top ten at Spa. He overtook Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have qualified in the top ten on the most occasions at the venue.
On Sunday, Hamilton was the first driver to retire from the Belgian Grand Prix. This was his first retirement of the year and he became the last of 2022’s full-time drivers to record a DNF. Hamilton’s retirement ended a 21 race streak of consecutive finishes for the Mercedes driver, the third longest finishing streak of his career. This was the third time that Hamilton has retired on the opening lap at Spa. He set a new record of most first lap retirements at the venue. Hamilton was previously out on the opening lap at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2009 and 2012. 2022 was the first year in which Hamilton did not finish on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix since he last retired from the event in 2014.
🇬🇧 George Russell
George Russell finished fourth at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix. Spa became the third circuit, after Bahrain International Circuit and the Hungaroring at which Russell has scored on multiple occasions.
🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc made his first Q3 appearance at the Belgian Grand Prix since taking pole in 2019. He set the fourth fastest time and was out-qualified by a team-mate at the circuit for the first time. Coming home in sixth place after a five-second pit lane speeding penalty was applied, Leclerc became the first driver to score at Spa having started from 15th on the grid since Jean-Eric Vergne in 2012.
🇪🇸 Carlos Sainz
Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying by over six tenths of a second but a grid penalty meant that Carlos Sainz started from pole position at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix. Sainz secured the second pole position of his career, making him the 71st driver to take multiple pole positions in Formula 1. This was the first time that Sainz has qualified in the top six at the Belgian Grand Prix. His previous best Saturday result at Spa was seventh, recorded with McLaren in 2020.
Sainz finished in third place, marking the first time he has finished above tenth place at Spa. It marked his first podium result since his victory at the British Grand Prix. Sainz’s third place was the first time that the polesitter has finished third at two consecutive races since the 2012 Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix.
🇦🇺 Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo failed to reach Q3 at the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time since driving with Toro Rosso in 2013. Ricciardo finished 15th for a second race in succession.
🇬🇧 Lando Norris
Lando Norris qualified tenth at the Belgian Grand Prix for a third successive season. Norris finished the race 12th, coming home outside of the points for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix.
🇪🇸 Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso qualified in sixth place, recording his best Belgian Grand Prix qualifying result since 2014. He moved up to third on the grid, equalling his best-ever starting slot at the Belgian Grand Prix. He previously lined up third in both 2004 and 2007.
Alonso finished in fifth place, recording his best Belgian Grand Prix result since his last podium finish here in 2013. Alonso scored points for the ninth race in a row, continuing his longest point-scoring streak since the 15 races between the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Esteban Ocon
Despite carrying a back of the grid penalty, Esteban Ocon recorded his best qualifying result of the 2022 season to date with fifth place. With Alonso fifth and Esteban Ocon seventh, this was the first time since 2010 that both of the Enstone team’s drivers have picked up points at the Belgian Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Pierre Gasly
On his 100th race start, Pierre Gasly ended the equal-longest point-less streak of his career with a ninth place finish. This was the first time Gasly scored since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Gasly gained ten positions from his pit lane start over the course of the race. It’s the equal-most places he has gained in a single race. He also gained ten places at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix.
Gasly maintained his 100% points scoring records at the Spa circuit. Impressively, Gasly became the first driver in F1 history to score on all of his first five appearances at Spa, overtaking a long-standing record held by Alberto Ascari since 1953.
🇯🇵 Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda remains yet to score at the Belgian Grand Prix. After finishing 15th in the 2021 race, he finished 13th in 2022.
🇩🇪 Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel missed out on reaching Q2 by just 0.002 seconds. He recorded his first Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix since 2007. On Sunday, it was a history-making afternoon for Vettel, who recorded his second-best result of the season to date with eighth place. During the race, Vettel overtook Michael Schumacher as the driver to have completed the most racing laps at Spa. Vettel’s tally of laps complete here now stands at 622. He also equalled Schumacher as the driver to have scored on the most occasions at the venue. This was Vettel’s 12th points-scoring Belgian Grand Prix.
🇨🇦 Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q2, making 2022 the first time since 2014 that neither of the Silverstone-based team’s drivers reached Q3 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
🇹🇭 Alex Albon
For only the second time this year, a Williams driver reached Q3. Alex Albon qualified in the top ten for the first time since the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. With ninth place, he recorded the team’s best qualifying result of the season. With Albon reaching Q3, all 20 drivers have now qualified in the top ten at some point during the 2022 season.
Albon scored for the third time this year, with his tenth place marking his first points-scoring appearance since the Miami Grand Prix. This was Albon’s worst result in Belgium. He had never previously finished outside of the top six at Spa.
🇨🇦 Nicholas Latifi
Despite qualifying 17th, grid penalties for other drivers meant that Nicholas Latifi started the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix from 10th on the grid. The Canadian lost seven positions over the course of the race – the most positions he has lost in a Grand Prix which he has finished.
🇫🇮 Valtteri Bottas
For the first time in his career, Valtteri Bottas set a lap time good enough for only the back row of the grid. This was the first time in over seven years that Bottas was eliminated in Q1. He was last out in Q1 at the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix, 148 races ago.
Bottas was out on the first lap of the race. This marked the first time that the Finn has failed to reach the chequered flag at the Belgian Grand Prix. Bottas’ retirement made this the sixth time in the last seven seasons that a driver for the former Sauber team failed to reach the chequered flag at the Belgian Grand Prix. This was the first time Bottas recorded retirements in successive races since the 2015 Russian and United States Grands Prix.
Racing on his 33rd birthday, Bottas made this the 28th occasion on which a driver failed to finish a Grand Prix on their birthday. It’s was the third time that a driver celebrating their 33rd birthday has retired, after Philippe Alliot at the 1986 German Grand Prix and Andrea de Cesaris at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix.
🇨🇳 Zhou Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu became the ninth driver to finish 14th on their first appearance at Spa. He’s the third driver to do so since 2017, after Stoffel Vandoorne and Brendon Hartley.
🇩🇪 Mick Schumacher
After finishing in 17th place, Mick Schumacher remains the only member of the Schumacher family who’ve raced in Formula 1 who has not yet scored a point at the Belgian Grand Prix.
🇩🇰 Kevin Magnussen
With 18th place, Kevin Magnussen recorded his worst qualifying result of the 2022 season to date. Magnussen became only the sixth driver to record 50 Q1 exits in Formula 1. Competing in his 133rd Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen moved ahead of Eddie Cheever to second in the list of most starts without leading a lap. Only Martin Brundle has appeared at more races without ever leading.
