Ferrari has brought the longed for first season win of the Formula 1 season. Charles Leclerc won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps ahead of defending champion Lewis Hamilton on Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas finished third with second Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel, who had two pit stops.
The race was marked by the tragic accident in Formula 2 the day before. The young Frenchman Antoine Hubert was killed. Before the race was thought with a minute of silence of the 22-year-olds. In the 19th round, all spectators rose from the seats - Hubert had worn the start number 19 in Formula 2.
Leclerc and Vettel had already mastered the qualifying - the leader also survived the start without any damage. Unlike Vettel - and especially Red Bull star Max Verstappen. Vettel temporarily lost second place to Hamilton, but was able to overtake the British after the first corner again. For Verstappen the race was already finished in the first round. The Dutchman had collided in the starting curve with Kimi Raikkonen. Verstappen kept going after that, but the car was so unable to maneuver that it landed in the tire stack of the next corner.
Leclerc was not deterred by the then used safety car and continued to drive his race from the top. Only the pit stops had briefly brought Vettel the lead, but he had to return soon to his teammate. He also could not keep the second place in the long run, Hamilton moved past the German in the 32nd of 44 laps of the race. A second pit stop threw him back behind Bottas.
