GOOD AFTERNOON AND WELCOME! Hello and welcome to Eurosport's live text coverage of this afternoon's Belgian Grand Prix here from Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, tucked away in the hills of the Ardennes Forest. This is shaping up to be a mouthwatering contest, as Max Verstappen has to make his way through the field from P14, with Charles Leclerc also starting near the back of the grid like his championship rival due to penalties for components changes. Carlos Sainz starts this race on pole position despite Verstappen going fastest yesterday in qualifying.

Formula 1 | Belgian Grand Prix

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 28.08.2022

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ByThe Editorial Team

Updated 28/08/2022 at 14:35 GMT

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Belgian Grand Prix

Verstappen triumphs to take battling win at Belgian GP

28/08/2022 at 17:57

44/44

LAP 44/44 - VERSTAPPEN WINS THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX!

Verstappen caps off a superb afternoon after starting all the way in P14! Perez crosses the line in 2nd, with Sainz in 3rd.

Leclerc just about gets back past Alonso for fifth place! That was a nerve-wracking last lap for the Ferrari!

43/44

LAP 43/44 - LECLERC PITS!

That may have been a bad call to come in for softs for Leclerc to set the fastest lap, but Leclerc comes back out and Alonso takes 5th place ahead of him! If he cannot get back past the Alpine, that would be a stinker of a call from Ferrari.

40/44

LAP 40/44 - FIVE LAPS TO GO

George Russell may have left this too late to catch Carlos Sainz. He may have run wide in the previous lap, as the gap is back up to around 2.4 seconds. He has four laps to make up that gap now.

Meanwhile, out in front, Verstappen is a huge 16.7 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez.

The best fight on the track is for P10, which Albon currently holds. There are five cars behind him all fighting it out for the final point, with all of them bunched up and separated by less than five seconds between them.

36/44

LAP 36/44 - RUSSELL REALLY CATCHING SAINZ!

Sainz is in trouble here. Russell has closed the gap to just over two seconds. Can the Mercedes driver get the final podium place in the last nine laps of this race?

Meanwhile, in the fight for 10th, Albon is just ahead of a train of cars behind him. Stroll, Norris and Zhou are all just behind the Williams and all of these drivers are fighting for the final world championship point.

35/44

LAP 35/44 - TEN LAPS TO GO

With ten laps left of this race, here are the standings:

VER, PER, SAI, RUS, LEC, ALO, GAS, VET, OCO, ALB.

Russell is catching Sainz ahead of him, and the gap stands at around four seconds.

32/44

LAP 32/44 - LECLERC UP INTO P5

Leclerc gets back up into P5, sailing right past the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel down the Kemmel straight.

31/44

LAP 31/44 - VERSTAPPEN PITS

Verstappen comes in for a set of medium tyres, so we will see how he can manage those and if they will last until the end of the race. This is now his race to lose.

30/44

LAP 30/44 - RUSSELL PITS

Russell pits from P2, and fits the harder tyres. He comes back out in P4, nine seconds behind Sainz. He is also ahead of Leclerc, who is currently in P6.

28/44

LAP 28/44 - PEREZ PITS FROM P2

Perez comes in from P2, and fits a set of the harder compound tyres. He emerges back out in P3 behind George Russell. Crucially, he emerges over two seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz, who has already pitted.

26/44

LAP 26/44 - SAINZ PITS

Sainz has come into the pits from P3. He fits a set of hard compound, and that should last him until the end of this race.

Ferrari double stack, and Leclerc also comes in. He has opted for the mediums, so he may be pressuring his team-mate later on in this race.

STANDINGS: VER, PER, RUS, SAI, VET, OCO, LEC, ALB, RIC, STR.

23/44

LAP 23/44 - VERSTAPPEN EXTENDS GAP TO 8.5 SECS

Verstappen is driving beautifully here, and he is constantly extending the gap by a considerable chunk every lap out in front. He is now almost nine seconds clear of Perez. Another ten seconds would put him a whole pit stop ahead of his nearest challenger on the track.

STANDINGS: VER, PER, SAI, RUS, LEC, ALO, VET, OCO, ALB, RIC.

21/44

LAP 21/44 - PEREZ GETS PAST SAINZ

Sergio Perez has got past Sainz as well, and the Red Bulls are clearly miles quicker than the Ferraris on pure pace. He glides past down the back straight towards Les Combes with the help of DRS. Is a RBR one-two on the cards here?

19/44

LAP 19/44 - VERSTAPPEN EXTENDS GAP OUT IN FRONT

Verstappen is going very quick out on track. He has already pulled out a five second gap to Carlos Sainz behind him. This stint will be crucial for the Dutchman. Meanwhile, Perez has completely closed the gap to Sainz, and is in DRS range.

Meanwhile, Leclerc opts to stay out an extra five laps on his medium tyres, and may pit for the harder compound in the next stint, abandoning the one-stop strategy.

18/44

LAP 18/44 - VERSTAPPEN GETS PAST SAINZ AND LEADS THE RACE!

What a moment that could be in this race! Verstappen has made up the two second gap to Sainz, and closes up to DRS range. He uses his rear wing to get past the Ferrari into Les Combes and he has the lead of the race after 18 laps despite starting down in P14! Brilliant work from Red Bull so far.

17/44

LAP 17/44 - BRILLIANT OVERTAKE

Best overtake of the race so far! Ocon makes a brilliant pass on Ricciardo down the back of Blanchimont into the bus stop chicane, and almost gets Albon as well into the final corner, but the Willliams just about holds him off. Ocon up into P10.

16/44

LAP 16/44 - VERSTAPPEN PITS!

Verstappen finally decides to come into the pits. Sainz emerges back out in front of the Red Bull, but Verstappen comes out back out in front of his team-mate. That first stint has worked out perfectly for the Dutchman! He can now push from here and try to close the gap to Carlos Sainz, who is still out in front.

Meanwhile, Russell makes an overtake on Leclerc down the back straight with the help of DRS and moves up into P4!

15/44

LAP 15/44 - PEREZ PITS

Perez pits from P2, and that looks like it was a good call from the Red Bull team. He emerges nack out in P3, and crucially right in front of Leclerc and Russell.

The Ferrari tries to attack the Red Bull down the back straight into the Les Combes chicane, but Perez goes defensive and maintains the position.

14/44

LAP 14/44 - RUSSELL PITS

Russell pits from P3 for a set of mediums. He emerges back out in P7, behind Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen has extended his gap to Perez to 3.5 seconds and says to his engineer on the radio that he is trying his best to extend the stint on these soft tyres to try to make the one-stop come into play.

Standings: VER, PER, SAI, VET, STR, RUS, ZHO

13/44

LAP 13/44 - VERSTAPPEN STAYS OUT

Verstappen has opted not to pit, and it looks like he is staying out for the time being. Meanwhile, both Ocon and Ricciardo come in for fresh hards and come back out in 15th and 16th respectively.