An absolutely superb drive from Max Verstappen sealed him victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, as he recovered from P14 on the grid to win at Spa-Francorchamps and close further on retaining his world championship.

In the bottom half of the order for lights out due to engine penalties, Verstappen gained one place before the race had even begun as Pierre Gasly suffered a technical fault on the grid and had to start from the pitlane.

From there, though, the Dutchman began carving through the field once the Grand Prix was underway, as he produced a blistering first stint - at times over a second quicker than anyone else on track - to be P2 after the first round of stops, and just four seconds off leader Carlos Sainz, who had started on pole after Verstappen's demotion down the grid.

Sainz, among others, had voiced their concerns Max was going to be too hot to handle this weekend despite the grid drop and, indeed, so that would prove with lap 18 being the one that saw the Spaniard relieved of the lead, something Max would not give up for the rest of the 44-lap race.

Whilst he enjoyed an uneventful drive out in front once he'd got there, though, there was plenty going on elsewhere right from lap one.

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton clashed at the end of the Kemmel straight, something that would leave Lewis out of the race moments later, whilst Fernando, clearly enraged, blasted his former team-mate on the radio:

"What an idiot! Closing the door from the outside. "We had a mega start but this guy only knows how to drive starting first," he said.

Alonso would get away without damage whilst the stewards put it down as a racing incident, whilst moments later Valtteri Bottas would be joining Hamilton in having a long walk back to the pits after beaching in the gravel trying to avoid a spinning Nicholas Latifi.

Once the frenetic opening had passed, things did settle down a bit and it was Red Bull who were a league above, with Verstappen cruising ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez, who had too much pace for Carlos Sainz himself.

SPA, BELGIUM - AUGUST 28: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 passes his team celebrating on the pitwall during the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on August 28, 2022 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

They would be the top three whilst George Russell came home in fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso, who benefited from Charles Leclerc speeding in the pitlane as he made a slightly surprising late stop.

Esteban Ocon was seventh ahead of Sebastian Vettel, whilst Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon completed the top ten.

Leg one of the triple-header is done, then, and the F1 circus now swiftly moves to Zandvoort.