Max Verstappen closes in on record win streak with Belgian GP victory

Max Verstappen made it eight wins in a row by cruising to victory at the Belgian GP despite starting sixth on the grid.

The Dutch driver continued his dominant campaign, beating teammate Sergio Perez handily to extend his lead atop the drivers' championship. Charles Leclerc, who started the race on pole, crossed the line third for Ferrari.

Leclerc got off the line well, keeping his lead ahead of Perez, but there was trouble behind them heading down into Turn 1. Carlos Sainz locked up, and while trying to avoid making contact with Lewis Hamilton, closing the door on Oscar Piastri.

The two touched, with Piastri clipping the inside of the wall. Both cars were left damaged, with the McLaren driver tumbling down the order and retiring soon after. As for Sainz, he continued with a damaged Ferrari, but after finding himself near the bottom of the order after his first stop, he also retired.

At the front, Perez passed Leclerc to take the lead, with Verstappen making his way through the field to sit behind his teammate in a Red Bull 1-2.

It was only a matter of time until the Dutchman found a way past his teammate however, and he did just that on Lap 17. From there he never looked back, crossing the line for his eight win in a row, which means he's one victory away from equalling Sebastian Vettel's 2013 record.

"It's a new spot [to win from] P6!" Verstappen said post-race. "I knew we had a good car, it was just about surviving Turn 1, it all got very tight and I just stayed out of that.

Rain holds off

Although rain was expected, the wet weather held off as the race was run in dry conditions.

With the two Red Bulls running away at the front, Leclerc managed to fend off Lewis Hamilton to round out the podium.

Leclerc gave up the chase with one lap remaining when he came in for a set of new tyres in order to claim the fastest lap of the race, which he did, while still holding on to fourth.

Fernando Alonso heads into the summer break with a solid fifth-place finish ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris.

Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.

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