LIVE F1, Belgian GP 2020: real time race updates. Hamilton wins in Belgium, blackout for Ferrari

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Lewis Hamilton increases his lead in the championship standings. He has 47 points advantage on Max Verstappen. Hamilton is going fast towards his seventh world title.

Hamilton dominates the Belgian GP 2020 followed by Bottas and Verstappen. Another amazing performance for Mercedes that gets another 1-2. Verstappen did not have many chances to challenge Mercedes today. Blackout for Ferrari that finish in P13 and P14. For the Italian team, it is time to figure out what was so wrong this weekend to avoid this kind of performances in Monza and Mugello in the next two weeks.

Lewis Hamilton gains his 89th victory in career, only two wins away from the record of Michael Schumacher. Bottas and Verstappen complete the podium. Ricciardo, with an amazing race and the fastest lap, concludes in P4. Follow, in order, Ocon, Albon, Norris, Gasly, Stroll and Perez.

FINAL STANDINGS:

1 Lewis HAMILTON MercedesLEADER 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+8.448 1
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+15.455 1
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+18.877 1
5 Esteban OCON Renault+40.650 1
6 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+42.712 1
7 Lando NORRIS McLaren+43.774 1
8 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+47.371 1
9 Lance STROLL Racing Point+52.603 1
10 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+53.179 1
11 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+70.200 1
12 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+71.504 1
13 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+72.894 1
14 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+74.920 2
15 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+76.793 1
16 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+77.795 2
17 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+85.540 2
18 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing– – –
19 George RUSSELL Williams– – –
20 Carlos SAINZ McLaren– – –

Lap 44/44 Ocon overtakes Albon. Ricciardo concludes in the fourth position behind Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen and gains the extra point for the fastest lap.

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE BELGIAN GP 2020!

Lap 44/44 FINAL LAP for Lewis Hamilton who is going for another victory.

Lap 43/44 Updated standings:

1 Lewis HAMILTON MercedesLEADER 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+6.219 1
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+13.290 1
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+21.973 1
5 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+40.605 1
6 Esteban OCON Renault+40.850 1
7 Lando NORRIS McLaren+41.116 1
8 Lance STROLL Racing Point+50.269 1
9 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+50.475 1
10 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+52.737 1
11 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+66.891 1
12 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+67.703 1
13 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+70.300 1
14 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+72.833 1
15 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+73.488 2
16 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+77.718 2
17 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+85.683 2
18 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing– – –
19 George RUSSELL Williams– – –
20 Carlos SAINZ McLaren–

Lap 42/44 The top three seem safe now, but there is a battle for P5 between Albon and Ocon.

Lap 41/44 Leclerc is trying to close on Grosjean but the Ferrari cannot take full advantage of the car nor of DRS to overtake the Haas, continuing the very complicated weekend.

Lap 40/44 Hamilton is complaining about the front right tyre. Bottas is 7″005 away from Hamilton and 6″739 ahead of Verstappen. Ricciardo is gaining 1″-2″ every lap on Verstappen. In the meantime, Merced team told Bottas to avoid curbs.

Lap 39/44 Hamilton makes a mistake at the last chicane before the pit-lane. Mercedes is on tyre management worried that a situation like Silverstone could happen again. Verstappen is managing the tyres too while Ocon is pushing to close on Albon and take P5.

Lap 38/44 Norris overtakes Stroll and takes P7. Ricciardo at the moment is the fastest on track. Great performance by the Renault.

Lap 37/44 GREAT OVERTAKE OF Perez on Kvyat and the Racing Point takes P9 at the outside on the Kemmel straight. Verstappen is complaining about vibrations on his tyres.

Lap 36/44 Incredible overtake from Leclerc on Magnussen and the Ferrari get P15. Leclerc is trying the comeback to hope for at least a few points. Hamilton has 5″704 advantage on Bottas.

Lap 35/44 Updated standings:

1 Lewis HAMILTON MercedesLEADER 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+5.167 1
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+9.711 1
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+25.908 1
5 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+33.206 1
6 Esteban OCON Renault+35.419 1
7 Lance STROLL Racing Point+41.133 1
8 Lando NORRIS McLaren+42.368 1
9 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+49.673 1
10 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+50.412 1
11 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+51.603 1
12 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+54.333 1
13 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+57.243 1
14 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+60.357 1
15 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+63.984 1
16 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+64.710 2
17 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+77.301 2
18 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing– – –
19 George RUSSELL Williams– – –
20 Carlos SAINZ McLaren– – –

Lap 34/44 Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Albon, Ocon, Stroll, Norris, Kvyat and Perez in the top-ten. Vettel is in P13 and Leclerc in P16.

Lap 33/44 Gasly overtakes Vettel who cannot do anything to defend his position. Vettel’s tyres are done. The German driver is asking for a pit stop but the team does not want to do another pit stop as Vettel will go back on track in the last position.

Lap 32/44 Vettel is struggling with his tyres and Gasly his taking advantage of this situation. Leclerc is in P16. Terrible race for both Ferrari.

Lap 31/44 Nothing has really changed. Hamilton still in the lead with 4″407 advantage on Bottas. Verstappen is 3″359 away from Bottas. Latifi stops for the second time too.

Lap 30/44 Hamilton set the new fastest lap, pushing the car at its limits. Perez overtakes Vettel who is now in P12.

Lap 29/44 Hamilton in the lead with 3″913 advantage on his teammate. Verstappen is 2″640 from Bottas. Vettel is in P11 behind Raikkonen, Leclerc in P17-

Lap 28/44 Leclerc set the fastest lap in 1’47″840 with medium tyres. Hamilton is still leading with 3″731 advantage on Bottas and over 5″ on Verstappen

Lap 27/44 Renaut is incredibly fast and Ocon overtakes Gasly getting into P6. Gasly is struggling and has yet to stop. Leclerc does not understand the reason behind the second pit stop.

Lap 26/44 Updated standings:

1 Lewis HAMILTON MercedesLEADER 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+3.832 1
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+5.774 1
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+21.433 1
5 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+25.143 1
6 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+28.964 1
7 Esteban OCON Renault+30.017 1
8 Lance STROLL Racing Point+31.133 1
9 Lando NORRIS McLaren+32.697 1
10 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+33.881 1
11 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+34.792 1
12 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+35.966 1
13 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+39.683 1
14 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+39.810 1
15 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+42.779 1
16 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+44.622 1
17 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+56.018 2
18 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing– – –
19 George RUSSELL Williams– – –
20 Carlos SAINZ McLaren– – –

Lap 25/44 Leclerc stops again and puts medium tyres. Another very slow pit-stop for Leclerc, it was 5″ long, a very troubled race for him and Ferrari who do not seem to find the light at the end of the tunnel this weekend. Leclerc in P17. Hamilton set the fastest lap in 1’48″175 with 3″815 advantage on Bottas.

Lap 24/44 The top three seem competing in a different race. Albon goes into P5 after overtaking Gasly who is struggling a little more. Vettel and Leclerc still in P12 and P13, divided by 1″275

Lap 23/44 Hamilton is increasing his advantage on Bottas (+3″065). Verstappen is 1″584 away from Bottas.

Lap 22/44 Standings halfway through the race:

1 Lewis HAMILTON MercedesLEADER 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+2.810 1
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+4.569 1
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+17.327 1
5 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+19.454 1
6 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+20.280 1
7 Esteban OCON Renault+21.321 1
8 Lance STROLL Racing Point+23.149 1
9 Lando NORRIS McLaren+25.687 1
10 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+26.705 1
11 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+27.494 1
12 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+28.793 1
13 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+29.554 1
14 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+30.998 1
15 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+33.050 1
16 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+34.162 1
17 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+34.975 1
18 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing– – –
19 George RUSSELL Williams– – –
20 Carlos SAINZ McLaren– – –

Lap 21/44 Great race so far for Daniel Ricciardo who overtakes Gasly and goes into P4. Bottas is 2″805 behind Hamilton who seems is already going for the victory of this race. Verstappen is 1″672 behind Bottas, while the two Ferrari are still in a battle for P12, they are divide by only one second.

Lap 20/44 Hamilton is increasing his advantage on Bottas, which now is 2″586. Verstappen, on the other side, is closing his gap on Verstappen which is still 1″2. Gasly is the only driver who has yet to stop.

Lap 19/44 Verstappen is doing great with hard tyres and reduces the gap with Bottas, only 1″275 gap. Leclerc and Vettel battle for P12 and the two Ferrari touch at the end of the Kemmel straight without damages. Perez stops and goes back into P17.

Lap 18/44 Hamilton and Bottas are pushing and there is also 1″634 between them. Verstappen is 3″201 behind. Leclerc is under investigation for driving too slow while bringing the car on the starting grid. He will need to meet with the stewards after the race.

Lap 17/44 1’48″156 for Bottas who set the fastest lap and tries to close on Hamilton, while Ricciardo overtakes Perez and takes P5. As a reminder, the Racing Point driver and Gasly have not stopped yet.

Lap 16/44 1’48″325 for Hamilton who pushes and has 1″210 advantage on Bottas and 2″324 on Verstappen. Raikkonen overtakes Vettel who is now in P13. Leclerc is in P14.

Lap 15/44 Hamilton makes an incredible restart, maintaining his position on Bottas and Verstappen. Gasly is in P4 with old tyres, he has not stopped during SC. Perez has soft tyres and Albon has medium ones, everyone else is on hard tyres.

Lap 14/44 Safety car ending at the end of this lap.

Lap 14/44 The cars are still following the Safety Car. Here are the updated standings after pit-stops:

1 Lewis HAMILTON MercedesLEADER 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+1.053 1
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+2.327 1
4 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+4.696 1
5 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+5.577 1
6 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+7.636 1
7 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+8.645 1
8 Esteban OCON Renault+9.524 1
9 Lance STROLL Racing Point+11.355 1
10 Lando NORRIS McLaren+12.753 1
11 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+14.727 1
12 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+15.146 1
13 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+16.144 1
14 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+18.783 1
15 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+19.667 1
16 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+21.048 1
17 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+25.420 1
18 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing– – –
19 George RUSSELL Williams– – –
20 Carlos SAINZ McLaren– – –

Lap 13/44 The area of the incident is full of debris and it will take a while to clean. Giovinazzi made a mistake and lost the control of his car, Russell tried to avoid Giovinazzi and hit the barriers.

Lap 12/44 Everyone completed a pit-stop except Gasly and Perez. Leclerc’s pit-stop was very slow, perhaps to fix the issues he was having on track.

Lap 11/44 HORRIBLE INCIDENTE BETWEEN RUSSELL AND GIOVINAZZI. SAFETY CAR! Luckily both drivers are ok.

Lap 10/44 Hamilton and Bottas keep 1″879 distance between them. Verstappen is 6″345 behind. Leclerc is slower than Vettel, Giovinazzi and Raikkonen.

Lap 9/44 Hamilton and Bottas in the lead with only 1″710 between them. Verstappen is 5″187 behind the leader. Leclerc seems to have found the right pace again with a lap on 1’51” range again.

Lap 8/44 Hamilton and Bottas keep the lead at the same distance. Bottas asked authorisation to push more but he was told that the team agreed to not race between them yet. Vettel is closing on his teammate.

Lap 7/44 Leclerc, in the meantime, loses another position, this time in favour of Kvyat. Leclerc in P12 and Vettel in P13.

Lap 6/44 Hamilton and Bottas have 1″781 difference between them, while Verstappen is 4″5 behind. Leclerc losese his position to NOrris and goes into P14. The Monegasque is driving on a pace of 1’54”.

Lap 5/44 Another very slow lap for Leclerc. It seems there is something wrong with the car while Hamilton and Bottas keep pushing and Verstappen cannot do anything else than defend his position.

1 Lewis HAMILTON MercedesLEADER – –
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+1.660 – –
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+4.336 – –
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+8.623 – –
5 Esteban OCON Renault+10.710 – –
6 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+11.378 – –
7 Lance STROLL Racing Point+13.409 – –
8 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+13.857 – –
9 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+15.485 – –
10 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+18.158 – –
11 Lando NORRIS McLaren+18.370 – –
12 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+19.475 – –
13 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+20.817 – –
14 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing+21.705 – –
15 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+22.408 – –
16 George RUSSELL Williams+23.895 – –
17 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+25.717 – –
18 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+25.930 – –
19 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+27.100 – –
20 Carlos SAINZ McLaren– – –

Lap 4/44 The standings do not change for the moment. Hamilton is leading ahead of Bottas and Verstappen. Leclerc in P10 and Vettel in P13. Gasly is in P8 with hard tyres, incredible performance for the AlphaTauri.

Lap 3/44 UNBELIEVABLE! Issues for Leclerc who is going incredibly slow at the moment. Perez takes advantage of the struggles of Ferrari and overtakes him. Hamilton in the lead with 1″225 advantage on Bottas and 3″382 on Verstappen. It keeps getting worse for Ferrari this weekend.

Lap 2/44 Bottas pushes the pace and set the faster lap of the race and is already 1″302 delayed from Hamilton. Verstappen keeps the third position after a battle in the first turns with Ricciardo. Gasly overtakes Leclerc who goes into P9.

Lap 1/44 Hamilton maintains his position in the lead ahead of Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo and Ocon. Incredible start from Leclerc who gains 5 positions with an incredible take on Perez in the chicane. Vettel in P13.

THE RACE IS ON!

15.10 FORMATION LAP. A few moments until the race.

15.09 Ferrari adopts different strategies with the drivers: Leclerc soft tyres, Vettel medium.

15.07 Last checks before the formation lap. The tension is rising, the race is about to start.

15.05 There will be 44 laps to decide the winner of the Belgian GP 2020.

15.02 The start of this race is particularly important as there are chances to overtake the opponents. Bottas and Verstappen will try to challenge poleman Lewis Hamilton.

15.00 10 minutes before the start of the race.

14.58 The drivers seem ready to start the race and to battle on track.

14.54 One minute of silence in memory of Anthoine Hubert who lost his life in August 2019 during the Formula 2 race on this track.

14.53 At this moment, it is sunny over the Spa track. Ferrari decided to bet on the rain set up which does not seem the best choice now.

14.50 Everyone who was behind Sainz will gain one position on the starting grid.

14.48 Welcome back, let’s start with some news: Carlos Sainz Jr will not start this GP after having some issues during the warm-up.

14.45 At the moment it is not raining, the track temperature is around 31°C

Good afternoon and welcome back to the LIVE updates of the Belgian GP, the seventh race of F1 2020. On the Spa-Francorchamps track, we expect an uncertain race, rich in emotions, or at least, these are the hopes of Formula 1 fans.

The forecast could affect the race as rain is predicted on the Belgian track, changing the plans of the teams that in case of heavy rai will need to change their strategies. However, whether it will be a dry or wet race, the feeling about the result does not change: Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are the favourites for success.  Hamilton conquered pole position n. 93 in his career yesterday, making the difference especially in sector 2, where he reached incredible speeds, supported by his W11 extremely performant.

The only drivers who could challenge Hamilton are the usual suspects: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) who starts from the second position, and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) who starts from third. Bottas could have his chance in the first lap to overtake Hamilton, but, at the same time, he will need to defend his position from Verstappen.

Ricciardo will start from the fourth position and will try to bring home some good result for his team. Renault has shown consistency and a good pace during the entire weekend so far with both his drivers. It could be a good day for both of them.

What about Ferrari? The situation for the Italian team is complicated and very disappointing. Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel will start from P13 and P14, respectively. They are not allowed to make any mistake both on track and with the strategy if they want to try to come back and gain some points for the team in this unexpectedly bad season.

OA Sport offers the LIVE updates of the Belgian GP, the seventh round of F1 2020: real-time and lap-by-lap updates not to miss any action on the Spa-Francorchamps track. The race starts at 15.10. Enjoy following the race with us!

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Photo Credit: LaPresse