After the terrible weather on race day, we may not have got the Belgian Grand Prix that we were all hoping for, but the F1 fans were still treated to some good performances over the weekend. Here’s who most impressed our Aramco F1 Power Rankings judges on the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit …
HOW IT WORKS
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Our six-person jury evaluates every driver after every Grand Prix and rates them according to their performance at the weekend of 10 points – which takes the machines out of the equation
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Our experts’ results are then averaged over the season to create an overall performance ranking (at the bottom of the page).
The big ones in Formula 1 are often shaped by seismic underdog performances at the beginning of their careers – and Spa 2021 could well turn out to be Russells. Yes, Williams’ commendable pit wall and Setup Nous were part of the equation. But Russell really delivered when it came down to Q3 to overtake Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes’ all-time factory qualifier – by 0.013 seconds to finish second on the grid.
How Russell might have fared if the race had run to the full distance is a moot point – but no one, not least our jury, was able to grant the Englishman his first F1 podium.
READ MORE: ‘A podium is a podium’ – Despite bizarre circumstances, Capito is thrilled with Williams’ first top 3 result since 2017
Russell’s performance was great. But let’s not take anything away from Max Verstappen, who managed to lap a soaked Spa-Francorchamps over three tenths faster than any other driver in Q3 and take his sixth pole of the season – with a half point win on Sunday his reward, because he reduced it the gap to Hamilton in the drivers’ standings to just three points.
READ MORE: “That’s not how you want to win,” says Verstappen when he was declared the winner after a handful of laps at Spa
The three-time Spa winner Sebastian Vettel has been very prepared for the fight this weekend. The Aston Martin driver was in the top 10 during practice and qualifying, finished in P5 on the grid – his best starting position of the year to date – and held that position for the race.
However, given Aston’s strong data on Friday, Vettel might have felt he could get revenge for his podium disqualification in Hungary this weekend.
WATCH: How race day unfolded at Spa as heavy rain cut short the long-delayed Belgian GP
Pierre Gasly was another driver who was in his element at Spa that weekend, finishing up to P3 in Free Practice 1 on the grid and in the race to maintain the team’s 100% points run this season.
READ MORE: 6 winners and 5 losers from the Belgian GP weekend – who shone in the rain at Spa?
F1 fans may have been denied the chance to see another Verstappen riot against Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix. But elsewhere, our judges measured Hamilton’s performance in Spa, whereby the seven-time champion couldn’t keep up with the high-flying exploits of Verstappen or Russell – but still the much stronger of the two Mercedes drivers on Saturday (Valtteri Bottas was only eighth on the grid claim) when Hamilton finished P3 for qualifying and the race.
READ MORE: “The fans were amazing today,” said Hamilton after the rainy Belgian Grand Prix
For a long time in qualifying it looked like Lando Norris and not Russell was the driver who was going to cause a stir at Spa.
Then he went through Eau Rouge / Raidillon in Q3 and fell into a violent crash that made the entire F1 community relieved when he left – with P15 on the grid (after a gear change) the result. Still, Norris’ impressive efforts put him in our top 10.
READ MORE: “I wanted to catch up on qualifying,” says Norris, disappointed after the shortened Belgian GP
George Russell may have been the star of the show on Saturday – but teammate Nicholas Latifi did a commendable job at the other Williams, in wet conditions that made him uncomfortable.
However, he was comfortable enough to beat Carlos Sainz ‘Ferrari and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine and finished 10th after his best qualifying of all time.
READ MORE: Williams boss Capito hints the team will keep Latifi for 2022
On paper, this was Daniel Ricciardo’s best weekend of the season with McLaren. But he gave his fans some heartbreaking moments in qualifying when he finished only P12 in Q1 – about 3.2 seconds slower than teammate Norris – before finally driving a strong lap in Q3 and finishing fourth on the grid, which he for the races .
Ricciardo’s P4 at Spa 12 months ago started an incredible run for the Australian – and he hopes the same scenario will manifest itself in 2021.
WATCH: Ricciardo says points were “all earned yesterday” after “relentless” rain
Esteban Ocon may not have shone as well in wet Spa qualifying as it did three years ago when he scored a shock P3 on the grid for Racing Point. But the Hungarian winner was Alpines front runner again as Alonso couldn’t get it out of Q2 while Ocon took P8 on the grid before moving up to P7 after Perez’s crash in the race.
READ MORE: Ross Brawn on a challenging day at Spa, Russell’s brilliance and facing F1’s return to Zandvoort
Not the best weekend for Leclerc, confused about why Ferrari was unable to replicate their rainy Imola performance at Spa earlier this year. Leclerc was furious with his team after his Q2 exit, but like Ocon he benefited from the drivers in front of him losing the order to score points for P8.
READ MORE: Leclerc explains the frustrated radio message in qualifying at Spa
MISS
On a relatively low-scoring weekend, Carlos Sainz and Mick Schumacher were the riders on the threshold – although they may have benefited from particularly low scores for some riders who, in our opinion, should have done better given the equipment they had at their disposal Weekend.
Mick Schumacher wore a nice tribute helmet for his father but didn’t quite do enough to make our top 10
THE OVERALL RATING
Russell is the big climber after his first perfect result of the season, jumping from P7 to P5, while Sainz goes the other direction – with Verstappen still at the top of the overall standings with his impressive 9.0 average from the year to date.
