@Charles_Leclerc holds-off @LewisHamilton to win emotional #BelgianGP. #F1

Charles Leclerc claimed a maiden victory at an emotional Belgian Grand Prix despite withstanding late pressure from a fast-charging Lewis Hamilton to give the Scuderia its first win in 2019.

Leclerc missed out on victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix due to an engine problem and at the Red Bull Ring after a late battle with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen but encountered no repeat as he finally converted the position into victory at the third chance.

Mercedes pairing Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas completed the top three after Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel dropped behind the two Silver Arrows after tyre issues and another pitstop.

Hamilton rapidly caught Leclerc in the closing stages but crossed the finish line 0.981 seconds behind the young Monegasque driver as the latter dedicated his victory to his good friend Anthoine Hubert who tragically lost his life in Saturday’s Formula 2 feature race.

The Grand Prix nearly began immediately under the safety car after Verstappen’s race ended prematurely in the Eau Rouge barriers on the opening lap.

Verstappen suffered a slow start and was overtaken by Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez on the rundown to La Source, but the Dutchman dive-bombed the two under-braking.

Verstappen passed Perez cleanly but clipped Raikkonen as the Alfa Romeo driver swept across the into the corner’s apex, sending the Finn into the air – and the duo once again made contact upon the exit of the corner.

Verstappen’s RB15 racer’s front left was damaged in the incident and broke completely as he entered Eau Rouge, which caused him to slide into the outside barriers.

Raikkonen was able to continue and made it to the pits, along with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo who picked up floor damage in a separate accident behind.

The safety car was set to return for the pit-lane on the third lap but remained on track because McLaren’s Carlos Sainz stopped on track after his Renault-powered MCL34 racer suffered a loss of power.

When the race went green on lap five, Leclerc was given relief as team-mate Vettel locked up into La Source.

Leclerc was in total control during his initial stint, surviving a minor scare after locking up at Les Combes and took an excursion into the run-off area.

The moment was noted by the stewards, after a pre-race briefing telling drivers to obey specific instructions if they went wide at Les Combes, but Leclerc ended up escaping an investigation.

Vettel held Hamilton at bay despite coming under intense pressure through the first half of the Grand Prix, and the former was first to pit his Ferrari on lap 15.

Leclerc, Hamilton and Bottas remained on track for a much longer first stint, and by the time the leader pitted on lap 21, he lost too much ground from Vettel to keep the position.

Vettel’s push on the C2 yellow side-walled mediums gave him a five second gap when Leclerc returned to the track, but the latter rapidly ate into the gap with the fresh rubber.

Leclerc got into DRS range with 18 laps remaining and Ferrari ordered Vettel to let his team-mate passed, which the German obliged after a small delay to allow Leclerc a tow along the Kemmel Straight to minimise the time loss.

Ferrari’s strategy backed Leclerc for the victory, but it left Vettel vulnerable to both Mercedes drivers and the four-time World Champion soon dropped to fourth as his mediums fell off the cliff.

Leclerc looked to be safe until Hamilton pushed in rapidly during the closing stages, but the championship leader was unable to attempt an attack on the Ferrari – however, taking second place meant the Briton extended his lead in the standing to 65 points over team-mate Bottas.

After being overtaken by Hamilton, Vettel was told to stay out if he could manage to keep Bottas behind to, which he replied “negative” immediately and jumped into the pits for a fresh set of softs in a bid to grab the fastest lap bonus point.

Red Bull’s newly promoted youngster Alexander Albon finished a surprise fifth on debut with the Milton Keynes-based outfit after an impressive charge from the rear of the grid.

He was gifted the career-best result after final lap drama, as McLaren’s Lando Norris retired to give the Thai-Briton driver sixth and then Albon snatched fifth from Racing Point’s Perez.

Norris was well on course to be rewarded with his career-best finish, after climbing up the field during the opening lap.

The McLaren youngster then flew by his midfield rivals then reported a loss of power from his Renault engine as he was about to begin his final lap and pulled off track on the main-straight.

That promoted Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat to seventh late on, before drama struck once more when Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi crashed out on what could have been an eighth-placed finish.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg took eighth after passing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo during a late push, while Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly fought to a ninth-placed result on his return to the Faenza-based outfit.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten as Ricciardo’s very worn tyres saw the Australian slip to 14^th behind the Haas F1 Team duo of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, who were running in a high sixth and seventh places respectively but fell swiftly as the race progressed.

The two ROKiT Williams Racing FW42’s of George Russell and Robert Kubica finished in 15^th and 17^th respectively with Alfa Romeo Racing’s Raikkonen sandwiched in-between the pairing.

Post-Race Quotes from Leclerc and Hamilton

Winner – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “One hand I’ve got a dream since being a child that has been realised, on the other hand it has been a very difficult weekend since yesterday,” Leclerc said to David Coulthard in parc ferme. ” We have lost a friend first of all. It’s very difficult in these situations so I would like to dedicate my first win to him. We grew up together – my first ever race I did it with Anthoine, Esteban [Ocon], Pierre [Gasly]. It’s just a shame what happened yesterday. I can’t fully enjoy my first victory, but it will definitely be a memory I will keep forever. It’s been a very difficult race,” Leclerc added. “We struggled quite a bit with the tyres towards the end. But [I’m] a lot happier than what I did in Budapest on my side, I managed the tyres better.”

2^nd – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “I gave it absolutely everything that I had,” said Hamilton. “A really difficult race today. The Ferraris were just too fast on the straights and very hard to keep up to keep up with them. I got as close as I could at the end, maybe another couple of laps – 44 is usually my lucky number – but maybe we needed a few more laps today. Nonetheless, congratulations to Charles, his first win. He’s had it coming all year so I’m really happy for him.”

Formula 1 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix 2019 Race Results Classification (44 Laps)

Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship Standings – Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton – 268 Points.
2. Valtteri Bottas – 203 Points.
3. Max Verstappen – 181 Points.
4. Sebastian Vettel – 169 Points.
5. Charles Leclerc – 157 Points.
6. Pierre Gasly – 65 Points.
7. Carlos Sainz – 58 Points.
8. Daniil Kvyat – 33 Points.
9. Kimi Raikkonen – 31 Points.
10. Alexander Albon – 26 Points.

Formula 1 2019 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 471 Points.
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 326 Points.
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda – 254 Points.
4. McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 82 Points.
5. Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 51 Points.
6. Renault F1 Team – 43 Points.
7. SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team – 40 Points.
8. Alfa Romeo Racing – 32 Points.
9. Rich Energy Haas F1 Team – 26 Points.
10. ROKiT Williams Racing – 1 Point.

Round 14 of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship heads from one historic circuit to another, the legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the Formula 1 Heineken Gran Premio D’Italia 2019 from Friday September 6-Sunday September 8.