The 2018 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 August 2018 at the

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

Stavelot Stavelot (; ; ) is a town and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Francorchamps and Stavelot. It is best known as the home of Spa-Francorchamps Circuit a ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The race was the thirteenth round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 74th running of the Belgian Grand Prix and the 61st time the race was held at Spa-Francorchamps and 51st time as a round of the World Championship. The race was won by

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...

's Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mercedes'

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

and

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he w ...

. The victory moved Vettel ahead of

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Professor", Prost won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and� ...

in all-time career Formula One victories and would be his last win for over a year until the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.

Report

Background

After going into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

during the weekend, Force India arrived in Belgium under new ownership. A consortium led by Lawrence Stroll purchased the racing assets and operations of Force India through a company named Racing Point UK Ltd. The original team, Sahara Force India, was excluded from the Constructors' Championship due to their inability to participate in the remaining races, allowing the new team known as Racing Point Force India to apply for a late entry and start their participation in the championship in Belgium.

Championship standings before the race

Mercedes driver

entered the round with a 24-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' Championship. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

by 10 points.

Practice

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

reserve driver Lando Norris made his first appearance at a Grand Prix weekend, replacing

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

during the first practice session.

Race

The race was won by

's Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mercedes'

and

. With the win Vettel took his 52nd and overtook

for third in the ranking of drivers with the most Formula One wins. The race featured a first lap crash involving Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, and Charles Leclerc. Hülkenberg misjudged his braking before ramming into the back of Alonso, before flying over Leclerc's car and landing on the

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

. After the first corner incidents, Vettel passed Hamilton on the Kemmel straight on lap 1. Hamilton tried to repass at the end of the straight, as did the two Racing Point cars of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez, and they were four abreast in the braking zone, with Vettel staying ahead. Hamilton was not able to challenge Vettel again.

Classification

Qualifying

;Notes * – Valtteri Bottas,

Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Hülkenberg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2015 with Por ...

, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Stoffel Vandoorne all received a 30-place grid penalty for exceeding their quota of power unit elements.

Race

;Notes * – Valtteri Bottas received a 5-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sergey Sirotkin.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes

References

{{F1GP 10-19 Belgian Grand Prix Belgian Grand Prix Belgian Grand Prix

Report

Background

Championship standings before the race

Practice

Race

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Championship standings after the race

See also

Notes

References