2018 Belgian Grand Prix : Drivers of the Day

The Belgian Grand Prix provided more drama with the championship leader repeating his 2017 mistake by clunking into the wall at the Bus Stop chicane, and from the race lead as well. Worse still, his nearest championship rival took maximum points to close the gap. Of the 22 drivers, who was super at Spa?

5. Kevin Magnussen

Off the back of his dominant win at the Hungaroring, Kevin Magnussen looked good for a strong grid position after topping Saturday practice, but didn’t quite get it together in qualifying compared to his teammate with 5th on the grid. A poor start left him down in 8th but steadily made progress at the expense of the two Gojira drivers falling by the wayside and a limping Mason Taylor handily delaying Charles Leclerc at the Bus Stop. He overtook teammate Catharina Caracciola just after his first pitstop for 3rd and then used his two-stop strategy to overhaul the three-stopping Sebastian Vettel for 2nd, but an engine failure with nine laps remaining prevented him from staying there.

4. Sebastian Vettel

After an awful Hungarian Grand Prix, Vettel returned to form with a brilliant lap to take pole position despite running the hard Goodyear tyres. Despite Vaino Kimminen’s electric pace, Vettel put in a solid first stint to hold off Caracciola until his first pitstop. Fresh tyres helped him to remain 2nd before being overtaken by Magnussen at half distance and then making his second of three stops. More fresh Goodyears allowed him to keep the pressure on Caracciola for 3rd, although Vettel would eventually gain the final place on the podium thanks to Magnussen late engine failure.

3. George Russell

Spa-Francorchamps was a circuit likely to have suited the slippery TGP-18 chassis after strong showings in North America and the Österreichring, and George Russell showcased his talent with a strong weekend, qualifying in the top 10 and showing maturity beyond his experience as he kept his nose clean during the first part of the race where others were crashing out. He ran as high as 5th before his first pitstop and stayed in the top eight throughout despite an inferior car compared to the likes of Andrew Racing and Shake ‘n’ Bake Motorsport. A 7th was therefore a fine reward for Russell.

2. Romain Grosjean

What seemed like another low key meeting for Willows became one that came to life in the second half of the race in a similarly low key manner. Having been 15th at half distance thanks to a long first stint, Romain Grosjean began moving up the order with other drivers’ three-stop strategies losing them track position and overtaking Sergio Perez. Despite falling back down to 14th after his final pitstop, this became 10th once again after all pitstops had been made. Grosjean then overtook Chuck Bucknum for 9th with seven laps remaining, which immediately became 8th when the other Mitchell’s engine let go.

1. Vaino Kimminen

Tornado’s preference for superior race pace compared to qualifying was in full display here with Kimminen putting himself in contention with 7th on the grid and showcasing his trademark level-headed patience in the early stages with clean overtakes on Daniel Ricciardo, Magnussen, Taylor, Caracciola, and finally Vettel to move into the lead on lap 9. His move on Ricciardo into Pouhon in particular was impressive. Once he was in the lead, he didn’t look back, never losing the lead, winning by over 50 seconds, and closing to within four points of Farina.