The Belgian Grand Prix weekend was dominated by major news stories concerning Audi’s announcement that it will enter Formula 1 in 2026 and the decision by McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo to end their contract one year early.

When the racing started, Max Verstappen totally dominated the Belgian Grand Prix, the Dutch star starting the race from 14th position on the grid and slicing through the field to take the lead on lap 12, claiming his ninth win of the 2022 season.

With team-mate Sergio Perez finishing second, it was a perfect one-two result for Red Bull, underlining the team’s strength at the start of the post-summer campaign.

Closest championship rival Charles Leclerc was unable to challenge, his Ferrari starting the race in 15th position due to an engine penalty, but forced to make an early pitstop due to debris blocking the brake cooling system. He eventually finished sixth after a further penalty for speeding in the pitlane caused by a damaged speed sensor, while team-mate Carlos Sainz was third.

“This was a fantastic performance from Verstappen all weekend,” said Mika Hakkinen. “He had great pace in practice, but in qualifying was on another level compared to everyone else. To be more than half a second quicker than the next guy, and 0.8s quicker than team-mate Sergio Perez, showed incredible dominance.”

“Even though he started 14^th, everyone expected him to come through the field, and he did it so quickly – into the top three on lap eight and leading on lap 12. Spa does make it a little easier for a quick car to overtake, particularly on the long straight to the les Combes chicane, but you still have to position the car in the right way, and Verstappen was in perfect control.”

“At the moment it is very difficult to see Leclerc challenging Verstappen for the title. There are only eight races left and Verstappen has a 93 point lead. The Red Bull car seems to be getting even quicker. On top of that, Ferrari just don’t seem to have the consistency and confidence, so although I expect Leclerc to be able to win again, I don’t think he will be able to keep Verstappen from adding to his lead.”

Regarding Audi’s arrival into Formula 1 in 2026, Hakkinen sees this as a significant result for the sport.

“Formula 1 is getting stronger and stronger and Audi’s decision to join the World Championship in 2026 is a really significant moment,” he said. “Although they have only announced an engine programme to start with, I understand they plan to partner with, or buy, a team, placing Audi in direct competition with the Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. It’s going to be fantastic to see.”

“I see this as a result of the great work Formula 1 has done in recent years, growing the popularity of the sport through series like Drive to Survive on Netflix, the growth of social media and work which has been done to improve the competition.

“The 2026 engine regulations are also attractive because the engines will have almost half their power from electric energy and we will see fossil fuels replaced by green, sustainable fuel. Clearly this is attractive to a large car manufacturer like Audi, a brilliant piece of work by F1 and the FIA.”

Daniel Ricciardo’s split with McLaren at the end of this season drew significant media comment, but Hakkinen sees this as the right decision for both.

“Daniel is a quick driver, no question, and McLaren a competitive, ambitious team, but when a partnership is not working you sometimes have to make the difficult decision to go in another direction.

“I was fortunate to drive for McLaren for nine years, winning both my World Championships with the team, and I know how important it is for a driver and team to make a strong partnership where you have total confidence in each other. If you lose that confidence it becomes very difficult to get the necessary performance from the car and driver.”