F1: Sensational Verstappen wins Belgian GP after starting from P14

Formula One points champion Max Verstappen quickly carved his way through the field from 14th to win the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday and widen his lead in in the title raceVerstappen who in the final race before F1s summer break drove from 10th to the win in the Hungarian Grand Prix produced another imperious drive and moved closer to a second straight world title His lead in the standings is now 93 points But it is over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez because Charles Leclerc dropped to third in another poor Ferrari showingVerstappen was leading the race by lap 12 and he earned a bonus point for fastest lap His third straight win was his ninth this season and 29th overallPerez finished second to jump ahead of Leclerc in the standings Carlos Sainz Jr started from the pole for Ferrari and finished a disappointing third Leclerc started 15th and finished fifth behind the Mercedes of George Russell but Leclerc dropped to sixth after he was handed a fivesecond penalty for speeding in the pit laneThat pushed Alpine driver Fernando Alonso into fifth and Leclerc who is now 98 points behind Verstappen in the standings was shocked by the penalty and seemed defeated in the championship raceI didnt even know no one told me a surprised Leclerc said of the penalty Why did I get the penaltyAs for his title race with VerstappenIm not focusing so much on the championship now Red Bull were on another planet today Leclerc addedWe need to know why were so far awayLewis Hamiltons bid for a sixth straight podium ended on the first lap when he clipped Alonso and briefly went airborneAlso Read F1 news Audi to enter Formula One from 2026 onwardsSainz started from the pole because Verstappen and Leclerc were among the several drivers to be hit with grid penalties Sainz got away on the start and Russell and Hamilton zoomed past Perez and behind AlonsoHamilton then overtook Alonso on the outside but clipped the side of his Alpine sending Hamiltons Mercedes up in the air Race stewards reviewed and took no action though Alonso clearly felt Hamilton had not left him enough room as he tried passing him backWhat an idiot closing the door from the outside Alonso rantedWe had a mega start but this only knows how to drive and start in firstHamilton later cut off an interviewer who attempted to relay Alonsos comments to himIt doesnt matter what he said said Hamilton who added he didnt see Alonso in my blind spotSeconds after Hamilton pulled over Nicholas Latifi slid across the track and nudged the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas into the gravel bringing out the safety carHamilton stood next to his car as smoke billowed out then walked slowly back to the team garage He was later issued a warning for refusing to visit the medical centreFerrari made yet another bizarre call in this strange season of botched strategy Ferrari called in Leclerc for new tires with one lap remaining in a futile bid to score the fastest lap Leclerc was overtaken by Alonso as he came out of the pits had to overtake the Spaniard back and failed to score fastest lapEsteban Ocon of Alpine was seventh and followed by Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri and Alex Albon of WilliamsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever