MAX WINNER OF SHORTEST RACE IN F1 HISTORY

Max Verstappen scored his first Belgian Grand Prix victory after the race at the Spa-Francorchamps was red flagged after just three laps behind the safety car due to heavy rain that had delayed the race start for more than three hours.

Williams’ George Russell took the first podium finish of his career with second place, while Lewis Hamilton finished third for Mercedes.

With downpours regularly falling across the Ardennes circuit throughout the morning, conditions in the build-up to the were extremely difficult. The treacherous nature of the track were fully revealed when Sergio Pérez lost control of his RB16B at Les Combes on his reconnaissance lap to the grid.

The Mexican’s car slid into the barriers on the right side of the track breaking the suspension on the front right of the car. His Red Bull was recovered to the pits and it appeared as if he would take no further part in race.

With rain continuing to fall ahead of the scheduled start at 15:00 local time, the formation lap was delayed for 25 minutes. When it eventually got underway the red flags were swiftly shown as drivers throughout the order declared the conditions to be undriveable.

There followed an almost three hour delay as FIA race officials monitored conditions for any sign of improvement. During the race suspension Red Bull consulted officials who confirmed that if the team could repair the Mexican’s car he would be allowed to start the race from the pit lane. After furious work in the Red Bull garage Pérez’s car was in the end readied well ahead of the race start at 18:17.

Cars flowed out of the pit lane to follow the safety car around but with the rain beginning to fall more heavily it quickly became apparent that red flags were once again necessary and the cars steered back to the pit lane where 19 minutes later Race Control issued the message that the race would not be resumed.

The abandonment of the race means it goes down as the shortest in Formula 1 history. The record was previously held by the 1991 Australian Grand Prix at 14 laps.

The last time F1 had a half points race was in 2009 at the end of a Malaysian Grand Prix also halted by rain. Verstappen was declared the winner, scoring 12.5 points, with George Russell being awarded nine points and his first F1 podium finish.

Lewis Hamilton was classified third, scoring 7.5 points. Max therefore closes the gap to Hamilton to just three, with the Red Bull driver now on 199.5 points. The Team now sits on 303.5 points, seven behind Mercedes.

2021 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 1 lap, 6.880km., Weather: Rain
CLASSIFICATION:
P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME/GAP
1.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	3:27.071
2.	George Russell	Williams	+ 1.995
3.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	+ 2.601
4.	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	+ 4.496
5.	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	+ 7.479
6.	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	+ 10.177
7.	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 11.579
8.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 12.608
9.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	+ 15.484
10.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	+ 16.167
11.	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	+ 20.590
12.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	+ 22.414
13.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	+ 24.163
14.	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 27.109
15.	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	+ 28.329
16.	Mick Schumacher	Haas	+ 29.507
17.	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	+ 31.993
18.	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo	+ 36.054
19.	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	+ 38.205
20.	Lance Stroll*	Aston Martin	+ 44.108
*10 sec. penalty FASTEST LAP: NIKITA MAZEPIN - 3:18.016(unofficial)
NOT CLASSIFIED: /
HYBRID ERA - SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS 2014 Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull - 1h24:36.556 2015 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h23:40.387 2016 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes AMG - 1h44:51.058 2017 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h24:42.820 2018 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1h23:34.476 2019 Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - 1h23:45.710 2020 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h24:08.761 2021 Max Verstappen - Red Bull - 3:27.071(3 laps) @MkFormula1 - REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

CLASSIFICATION AFTER 12/22 RACE
DRIVERS:
1.	Lewis Hamilton	202,5
2.	Max Verstappen	199.5
3.	Lando Norris	113
4.	Valtteri Bottas	108
5.	Sergio Pérez	104
6.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	83.5
7.	Charles Leclerc	82
8.	Daniel Ricciardo	56
9.	Pierre Gasly	54
10.	Esteban Ocon	42
11.	Fernando Alonso	38
12.	Sebastian Vettel	35
13.	Yuki Tsunoda	18
14.	Lance Stroll	18
15.	George Russell	13
16.	Nicholas Latifi	7
17.	Kimi Räikkönen	2
18.	Antonio Giovinazzi	1
19.	Mick Schumacher	0
20.	Nikita Mazepin	0
CONSTRUCTORS:
1.	Mercedes AMG	310.5
2.	Red Bull	303.5
3.	McLaren	169
4.	Ferrari	165.5
5.	Alpine	80
6.	AlphaTauri	72
7.	Aston Martin	53
8.	Williams	20
9.	Alfa Romeo	3
10.	Haas	0