The Belgian Grand Prix 2019 was the 13th round of the 2019 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium, on September 1st.
Charles Leclerc won the race from the pole, followed by Lewis Hamilton, and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 24 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 1-2: 4 stops
- Laps 13-16: 5 stops
- Laps 21-25: 6 stops
- Laps 29-31: 6 stops
The fastest pit stop was George Russell's, stopping the clock at 22.442 seconds during his pit stop on lap 30, while the slowest one was was Carlos Sainz's, who stopped the clock at 59.291 seconds, 36.849 seconds slower than Russell, during his pit stop on lap 1.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only 3 drivers tried a 2 stops, and 1 driver tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Charles Leclerc, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
4Daniel Ricciardo
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4Carlos Sainz
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4Pierre Gasly
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1Sergio Pérez
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4Romain Grosjean
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-Lando Norris
-
-Charles Leclerc
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1Lewis Hamilton
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1Valtteri Bottas
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12Alexander Albon
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12Daniil Kvyat
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4Kevin Magnussen
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-Antonio Giovinazzi
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1George Russell
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17Robert Kubica
2 stops
-
4Nico Hülkenberg
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6Lance Stroll
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2Sebastian Vettel
3 stops
-
10Kimi Räikkönen
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy lost an average of 0.08 positions, the ones on a 2 stops strategy gained 2.67 positions on average, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 10 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option, even if Charles Leclerc managed to win the race making 1 stop.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There were some incidents during the race, with 4 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Lando Norris, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 43, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Max Verstappen, both had to retire due to an accident, and Carlos Sainz, who suffered a power loss on lap 1.
Engine
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Lando NorrisLap 43
Accident
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Antonio GiovinazziLap 42
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Max VerstappenLap 0
Power loss
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Carlos SainzLap 1
Qualifying
Charles Leclerc dominated all the qualifying sessions and took the pole by 0.748 seconds, with a final lap time of 1:42.519. Sebastian Vettel was right behind him, helping Ferrari score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton in third position, and Valtteri Bottas in fourth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 13 out of the 14 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 6 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.