F1 stars all say same thing about Belgian Grand Prix sprint after Max Verstappen win

Daily Mirror

5 days ago

Max Verstappen got the better of Oscar Piastri on the first lap to win the Spa-Francorchamps F1 Sprint race but that was one of only a few overtakes in a dull event
Formula 1 drivers unanimously slammed a "very boring" sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix. Saturday's short-form event at Spa-Francorchamps offered little by way of entertainment beyond the first lap which saw pole-sitter Oscar Piastri lose the lead.
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It was always a likely scenario with Max Verstappen using his lower-downforce Red Bull to get the better of the McLaren at the end of the long Kemmel Straight. Slightly more surprising was that Piastri was powerless to strike back over the 14-and-a-half laps of the sprint which remained.
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And he wasn't the only one who struggled to make any progress. Over those 15 laps, just seven overtakes were completed throughout the field – two of which were Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc swapping position, the Brit getting his Ferrari rival back after being caught napping at that same corner on the first lap.
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Lewis Hamilton managed to gain two positions from his starting place of 17th to finish still well outside the points. Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll were the only other drivers to complete one overtake each, and both were also well outside the points-paying positions.
Nico Hulkenberg, the victim of two of those overtakes towards the back of the pack, felt the Sprint was useful only for gathering further data. The Sauber driver said: "It was like a practice session. In the end even the quick cars didn't progress much. It was quite a static race.
"In heavy traffic all race long, if you're behind five or six cars, the cumulative dirty air effect is so big that you basically have no weapons and you're just going through your tyres. So it's just further practice."
Fernando Alonso, who was leapfrogged by team-mate Stroll on the opening lap, said he was stuck "in DRS trains all the way". He added: "Probably the only lesson is that qualifying may be more important than we thought. It's important to start up at the front and then try to keep that position. It's not guaranteed that you can overtake."
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It was a race which suggested that Spa-Francorchamps may not be a circuit which is best suited to the sprint format, while Alex Albon, who was overtaken by Hamilton near the end of the race, blamed the recent decision to shorten the DRS zone on that long Kemmel Straight which has made overtaking more difficult at that part of the track.
The Williams driver said: "We delayed the DRS zones last year or years before and I honestly don't know why we've done that, because the overtaking is more and more difficult. As the cars get better and better they're harder to follow so we need a bit of help. But the DRS zones remain a bit too short. I don't know how it was for everyone else, but that was very boring."
Verstappen had the straight line speed to hold off Piastri and take his first Sprint win of the year but 12th overall since the format was first introduced. It also marked the perfect start for new team principal Laurent Mekies at his first event since taking over at Red Bull from the axed Christian Horner.