Belgian Grand Prix: Race Recap

Both drivers started the race on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires, with Magnussen lining up from 12th place, and Schumacher 19th, after taking on fresh power unit components that incurred a penalty.

Magnussen and Schumacher escaped drama through the opening laps and fought valiantly in a closely-contested midfield group, with Magnussen briefly running inside the top 10. Magnussen pitted on lap 12 for White hard tires, with Schumacher following in two laps later, and both made a second stop for another set of medium tires, Magnussen coming in on lap 27 and Schumacher boxing on lap 31. 

From there Magnussen brought the VF-22 home in 16th place, with Schumacher in 17th position, to record a two-car finish.

Up front Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen surged through the field to record victory, his ninth of the season, ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, with Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz third. 

Haas F1 Team holds seventh place in the constructors’ championship with 34 points.

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“I think we had an idea that this wasn’t going to be such a strong weekend. This type of track isn’t really our track so we tried what we could, but we didn’t really have the pace today. All in all, it hasn’t been the best of weekends, but we’ve got more running, collected more data and that will be useful going forward. I’m looking forward to the next race.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team 

“It was tough, especially after the safety car restart to see those cars driving by. It was frustrating not having any top speed compared to the cars around us. On the other hand, it’s great to be here and great to be driving in front of so many people, some German! I think it was circuit specific that we struggled this week but with Zandvoort coming up we should be in a better position where we should be able to fight for points again and also, we should have a better read on the upgrade where it’s more comparable to Budapest. I expect us to go a bit forward and hopefully it will give us some points.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“I’m quite disappointed with the result today but it was almost expected. On a high-speed track where we need low drag, our car is just not good enough this year. We’ll try to make it up next week in Zandvoort where the car should be better suited to the race track like in Austria and Silverstone. We go away from here a little bit beaten up, but we are ready to come back again next weekend.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Belgian Grand Prix – Sunday August 28
Location: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Layout: 7.004-kilometer (4.352-mile), 19-turn circuit
Weather: Sunny
Air Temps: 21.5 degrees Celsius (70.7 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit)
Race Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing
Team Result: Kevin Magnussen – Started 12th / Finished 16th (Running – completed 43/44 laps)
Mick Schumacher – Started 19th / Finished 17th (Running – completed 43/44 laps)