In the thick of the action A wild opening lap for @Max33Verstappen #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/r5i4V3lwF5
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 30, 2022
Watch Verstappen's superb first lap in Belgium
Max Verstappen had a brilliant start at the Belgian Grand Prix. The Dutchman went from P14 to P8 in one lap and laid the foundation for his victory at Spa-Francorchamps. Watch the footage of that first lap here.
Good start from Verstappen
After an excellent qualifying session in which Verstappen had just one run to be more than half a second faster than his nearest rival, the reigning world champion had to start the race in Belgium from P14. Red Bull Racing had opted to replace Verstappen's engine and thus incur a grid penalty.
This didn't bother Verstappen much, as he took the lead before halfway through the race and didn't give it away. Verstappen won six positions already in the first lap. One was given to him by Pierre Gasly who started from the pit lane, but Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi, Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton were all passed Verstappen on the first lap.
