F1 Belgian Grand Prix: five things we learned from Spa

To an extent, the policy has achieved its goal but in Spa, the policing of that rule with grid penalties was made to look farcical. Lewis Hamilton was given a 55-place drop (plus five more for breaking a gearbox seal in parc ferme), most of which became entirely meaningless once he had already been relegated to the back. Fernando Alonso's 60-place sanction was equally absurd. Both teams fitted three new power units - Mercedes for tactical reasons to give Lewis Hamilton a stock of parts and McLaren for an upgrade and because of technical failures - and the expense will not have been a concern to either team.

Fans on Saturday were denied a qualifying shootout involving Hamilton as he took the penalty and opted to conserve his rubber, which left a hollow ring to the whole affair. The British driver has long been critical of the engine formula, and was so again this weekend, also taking aim at the penalty rule. His team executive director, Toto Wolff, agreed with him.

"The figures are pointless and we shouldn't bother with them any more," said Jenson Button, which is true but the reality is the sport needs to find a way to control costs that does not impact on the spectacle it is selling - perhaps by deducting constructors' points - and it needs to do it right. "In Formula One every time we try to save money, we spend more," McLaren's team principal, Éric Boullier, noted after Alonso took his third engine on Saturday.

2) Verstappen is at the limit

He is young, he is very popular, he is talented and there was evidence of all three in the Ardennes for Max Verstappen. In qualifying Verstappen had taken Ricardo Rodríguez's record, held since 1961, for being the youngest driver to start from the front-row of the grid. He did so in front of a huge contingent of Dutch and Belgian fans, with both claiming him as their own. He is registered as a driver for the Netherlands, as was his father Jos, but his mother is Belgian and he was born just 40 miles from Spa in Hasselt.

He has been unafraid all season to take on experienced drivers, not least Sebastian Vettel on the outside of Becketts and Kimi Raikkonen in Spain and Hungary. But although he was not punished by the stewards, much of his drive at Spa has given many cause for concern.

He was too impetuous at La Source on lap one, which is the very first place this race can be lost and where it consequently was for him, Raikkonen and Vettel (who was also at fault). But much worse was the late block in front of the Finn on the Kemmel Straight.

Coming out of Eau Rouge in eighth gear at 200mph is no place to risk a pointless accident. He did similar in Spain to prompt similar ire from Raikkonen but again no action from the stewards. His advance to F1 has been shockingly quick with little time to learn his race craft, or indeed his limitations. "We were fortunate there wasn't a big accident because of that," said Raikkonen and the Finn was right. At the moment Verstappen is an accident waiting to happen.

3) No wonder Lewis Hamilton is smiling

Mercedes had predicted no better than eighth at Spa for the British driver and Lewis Hamilton himself had expressed doubts about reaching the top 10.

He accepted a hit in return for three new power units but his chief concern was to limit the damage to his championship lead. It was perfectly feasible that Rosberg would, in fact, surpass him in Belgium in the championships standings. As it transpired, though, the bigger challenge for Hamilton was not so much that, nor the glorious Spa circuit, nor even fighting through the field but the state of his tyres. Exceptionally high temperatures all week - it was 43C (109F) on track in qualifying - combined with the Mercedes power and downforce being overly tough on the Pirelli rubber that would be running in dirty air, made everyone cautious.

Third place, then, was way beyond expectations and Hamilton still has a nine-point lead in the championship. Lower temperatures, the safety car, three rivals out at turn one and the red flag all played their part as did Hamilton in keeping his head. If the title goes to the wire this was the sort of performance that would make the difference and was an object lesson to Verstappen. But what will please Hamilton even more is what awaits - he knows he is exceptionally strong going into the races that constitute the run-in. His recent record post-Belgium is six wins from seven in 2014 for the title and four from five to clinch it three races early last year.

4) Force India on the move

There were smiles too for Force India who continued their happy hunting at Spa with Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez in fourth and fifth. The team's first and only pole was scored here in 2009 by Giancarlo Fisichella who converted it into what is still their best finish, second place. They too benefitted from the turn one incident but Hülkenberg's race was somewhat compromised by the safety car and red flag and might even have yielded a third position.

Nonetheless both drivers put in very strong drives and such a strong result was huge for them. It is the first time they have put two cars in the top five since Bahrain in 2014 and most importantly it has moved them ahead of Williams to fourth in the constructors' championship.

From 15 points behind before Spa they are now two points ahead and in a position to potentially take the greater financial reward that place will offer should they hold it until the end of the season. Fifth last season is the team's best finish but bettering it will mean a big fight with Williams.

The Grove-based squad, who have underperformed this year, will be in no mood to give up their place as best of the rest. How much more each team can bring to this year's car with the bulk of resources already on the 2017 iteration may prove vital. The midfield battle for the run-in should be as exciting as the one at the front.

5) Alonso still has it

An absolute rollercoaster of a weekend for McLaren ended on a high note. It had begun with the Honda director Yusuke Hasegawa telling me of his optimism for next year, of the strides his team were making in development and a real desire to be fighting for wins in 2017.

They had used seven development tokens on engine upgrades for the race and although they were always going to struggle on a power track like Spa, they were confident of a good performance. Then a water leak forced another engine change for Alonso's car and what Hasegawa admitted was a bad call when they sent him out for qualifying with an oil pressure problem, forcing a third engine change and a 60-place grid penalty. Then, reason for cheers as Jenson Button wrung the neck of his McLaren to take ninth on the grid.

But his actual race was short-lived after he was unceremoniously biffed out by Pascal Wehrlein on lap one. Alonso, however, had a stormer from last on the grid. He had joked about following Hamilton through the pack on Saturday but after two laps of the race he was ahead of the British driver in 11th. He avoided incident and took every advantage as the runners on soft rubber stopped early putting him as high as fourth.

He was never going to hold it but he did fight to the last and clung on to take seventh ahead of both Williams drivers in undoubtedly faster cars. "Seventh is very good points for the team and to be in the points, on a circuit like this, was unthinkable a couple of months ago," he said. It moved McLaren into sixth in the championship ahead of Toro Rosso and perhaps the early optimism of the weekend was borne out. Certainly Alonso thought so. "The progress that the team has made is just amazing and if we keep this momentum for next year that will be great news," said the Spaniard.

Source: The Guardian.com