The curtain falls on Belgium. The last race weekend before the summer break always ends with a dominant Red Bull, so much so that it took a double. Max Verstappen collects victory number 45 at Spa after a comeback from P6 due to the penalty. Charles Leclerc also ended the weekend with a smile at Spa, third in line with the number of podiums collected in this first part of the season. The mood in his teammate's garage is different, Sainz, who retired on lap 27 due to the consequences of a contact on the first lap with Piastri's McLaren. Unlike the Spaniard, the Australian had to give up immediately, effectively ruining the good weekend that he had started with the podium in yesterday's Sprint. The uncertain weather significantly affected the Sprint weekend in Spa. So let's see the three tops and three flops at Fanta F1.
THE TOP
Max Verstappen: He managed to finish 20 seconds behind his teammate despite starting from sixth place and the controversy with Gianpiero Lambiase distracting him. A moral slap to the Mexican. Victory number 45 brings him closer to numbers destined to collapse in the face of the Verstappen – Red Bull combination. On a borderline weekend like the one in Spa, with the rain dominating, his talent and uniqueness came out even more. It's difficult to find someone capable of beating him even with the same car if desired.
Charles Leclerc: The Monegasque excels in the Sprint weekends, and so after Baku and after Austria, in Spa, the third Sprint weekend of the season, the third podium of the season arrives. A Ferrari which surprises at Spa, a circuit on which, on paper, it was expected that it would struggle more to counter, not so much Red Bull as Mercedes and McLaren. But also taking advantage of a Papaya single-seater melted in the sun, and an SF-23 with a good set up, he placed alongside the two Red Bulls. At Fanta F1 he obtained an excellent score for the Fanta managers who had fielded him.
Stephen Ocon: In a not entirely exciting race, overtaking in the middle of the group was the only small consolation. In particular, Esteban was the protagonist of one of the best ones, against Yuki Tsunoda, a few laps from the end. This weekend Alpine redeemed itself for two consecutive double DNFs.
FLOPS
Daniel Ricardo: It wasn't a great weekend for Daniel who is slowly re-approaching life on the track. A rather anonymous race against the more exciting one of his teammate, who managed to fight in the upper area of the mid-group classification. Al Fanta F1 leaves the weekend with a negative score.
Oscar Piastri: Bad start for him and the long-awaited podium doesn't arrive this week either. The Sprint one doesn't have the same value but at least it can cushion the DNF in the race. However, seeing the MCL60's performance on the track, perhaps it's a good thing it's out. Today McLaren had neither the car nor the set-up at all. A very difficult race for Norris.
Carlos Sainz: The contact with Piastri is a race accident but just as much as the Australian, the Spaniard has responsibilities - perhaps even a little more given the blockage had by Sainz. Avoiding accidents in the initial stages is difficult but seeing Leclerc's race there is a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth for Sainz and for the Fantamanagers who fielded him at Fanta F1 this weekend.
