'Ferrari's Plan Æ': 2022 Belgian GP – Goin' up, goin' down

Brundle, Crofty et al predicted the 2022 Belgian GP would be an absolute corker, so it was almost inevitable that it wasn’t.

Ferrari and – more surprisingly – Mercedes contrived to sabotage their races, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz were true to form and showed no fight whatsoever to Max Verstappen, paving the way to a beautiful drive through the Ardennes for the Dutchman.

Meanwhile Alex Albon kept his cool, Daniel Ricciardo justified McLaren’s decision to fire him back to the stone age and the old boys led by example.

Here’s what was going up and down at Spa-Francorchamps:

 

Goin’ down

‘Plan D’ is for ‘dinner’?

Just when you think Ferrari has exhausted the ways to mess up, the Scuderia digs even deeper and finds a new level of failure.

In qualifying, the Italian team put new tyres meant for the race on Leclerc when he was simply sent out to give Sainz a tow.

Then, after presenting the Monegasque with a myriad of strategic options mid-race, which he surely would have struggled to decide on at 200mph, his confused colleagues called Leclerc into the pits for a risky late fastest lap attempt, putting him behind Fernando Alonso with two laps left.

After overtaking the Spaniard, Leclerc was hit with a pitlane speeding penalty, seeing him drop to sixth. ‘Mamma Mia’ doesn’t even cut it anymore.

 

Lacklustre Latifi

Nicholas Latifi’s blunders this season alone would have filled up a Murray Walker ‘crashfest’ video back in the day.

The Canadian ran wide out of the first chicane on lap 2, losing control and needlessly punting a helpless Valtteri Bottas out of the race.

 

HAMbolic

Lewis Hamilton felt Alonso’s wrath after squeezing the Spaniard at Les Combes on the opening lap, the inevitable contact sending the seven-time champion skyward.

What started out as a miserable weekend for Mercedes could have perhaps resulted in a podium, had the needless incident not occurred.

Ricciardo gives McLaren more reason

Started seventh, finished 15th. Says it all about his McLaren tenure.

 

Goin’ up

Albon harvester

Albon, driving an FW44 with the speed and handling of a Belgian combine harvester, managed to hold off much faster cars to clinch 10th for Williams. Bravo.

 

Give it up for the old boys

They might have a combined age of 75, but Alonso and Sebastian Vettel showed many of the kids how it’s done in the Ardennes by finishing sixth and eighth respectively.

 

Consecutive crowing

Verstappen’s qualifying pace was terrifying, and the Dutchman made scything through the field look easy. Just give him the title already?