Charles Leclerc:
Third was the best result we could have achieved today. We knew that the Red Bulls would be quicker than us, so our target was to maximise points with the package we have, and we did that. We had to base our strategy on Lewis' (Hamilton). He had a good pace and we had to make sure we kept him behind us.
The Red Bulls in front then had to react to our moves, so we were all on the same strategy. In terms of tyre management, we didn't have too much degradation and we have been doing a good job in that area for the past few races.
The team has done an amazing job to bring updates ahead of schedule and let us take steps forward faster than we thought we would. It's good to finish this first half with a podium and hopefully we can maximise our package at the upcoming races after the break too.
Carlos Sainz:
Not the way I wanted to finish the first part of the season. Hamilton stayed behind Perez and I attacked him on the inside. Then came the contact with Oscar and that was it, a racing incident, but in my opinion Oscar was way too optimistic as he was never side by side with me and making that move from behind has never really worked here in Spa. I'm disappointed, but it's also part of racing.
On a positive note, it looked like the pace was good today so congrats to the team and Charles on an encouraging result. We need to keep pushing hard to make sure we come back strong after the break and have a good second half of the season.
Lewis Hamilton:
It was a non-eventful race for me today with not a huge amount going on. I was unable to keep up with the cars ahead of me and was struggling in the beginning. We know the rear end is our biggest issue and then we had some bouncing this weekend. At the end, I was keeping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc within a few seconds, but I couldn't get any closer. It was nice to have the gap to the car behind and to attempt to go for the fastest lap. It was gusty out there today and difficult to keep it on the track, but my lap was decent.
We know we have more work to do to close the gap to the front. We'll work with all the data we've accumulated and try to figure out what we can do for the next race after the summer break.
George Russell:
I really felt that I could have been up there with Lewis fighting for a podium for the Team today. Unfortunately, I was boxed in on the opening lap behind Oscar when he picked up damage at the first corner. That cost me a couple of positions and compromised my Grand Prix. After that it was a good race for us, and we have opened the gap in the Constructors' by 51 points to third place.
It has been an intense first half of the season for everyone in the Team, so we are looking forward to the break and the chance to switch off for a few weeks before we get back racing again at Zandvoort. We know our goal is to win races, and I still believe that we can do that this season.
Esteban Ocon:
"It feels good to be back in the points here in Spa after a few tough weeks where we've finished outside the points due to circumstances out of our control. Overall, it was a good recovery drive and a well-executed race from the team today. Eighth place is a very good result after starting from fourteenth on the grid. There were some fun overtakes along the way too, especially on Yuki [Tsunoda] and Alex [Albon]. I think it's a good way to end a busy weekend for us and a nice way to go into the summer break where we'll look to rest and recharge before attacking the second part of the season. Finally, I'd like to wish Otmar, Alan and Pat all the best in the future and I know we all thank them for their important contributions to the team."
Pierre Gasly:
"It's been a frustrating afternoon where we did not score points. I made a pretty good start into Turn 1 and then on the run into Turn 2, gaining a couple of positions. I was very unlucky with Oscar [Piastri] who had damage and was slow up Eau Rouge and I ended up being stuck behind him with a number of cars able to overtake. That made things difficult for us, left us playing catch-up and then we had to see if we could extend our first stint on Softs with the chance of rain. It did not rain hard enough, so we converted to a one-stop and in the end fell just short of the points. Some of the racing was fun out there but we're still lacking some power which we need to find. Now we have the summer break where all of us will take some time to rest and recover ready to take on the second part of the season. Finally, I wish Otmar, Alan and Pat the very best for their future and a big thanks for all the moments with them during this season."
Lando Norris
"A good result. I think we can be pleased with that after the start of the race being frustrating for us. We were just very poor on pace and struggled too much to overtake and defend in the straights. So, we were going backwards and backwards in the opening laps. We tried many things with the strategy and the only thing to work in the end was to put a Soft tyre on and the whole race transformed after that. We ended up finishing P7, which was, I think as good as the race could have gone today. Tough for the team, but we scored some good points, and we have to take that going into the break."
Oscar Piastri
"A disappointing end to the weekend. I had my nose in there at Turn One and got a bit caught out with Carlos darting to the inside. My nose was in there, I couldn't get out of that one, so a shame to have my race over so early. It's still been a positive weekend though and all in all, I think we've had some good learning on track so we can still be confident for the rest of the year."
Valtteri Bottas:
"We can say today has been a solid race, I was happy with our pace and with the strategy we chose. Overall, it has been pretty much a straightforward one, with nothing much happening after the start, when I went slightly off on the grass to avoid Yuki [Tsunoda], who was heading right. Of course, with the pace being very similar for so many cars in the field, it was going to be a bit difficult to make progress, especially taking into consideration how this track hasn't suited our car best and our starting positions. There are still a few areas on which to improve, it hasn't been the smoothest of weekends in terms of handling tricky weather conditions but we did make some progress. Now, we are all going on a well-deserved summer break, in order to reset and come prepared to tackle the second half of the season."
Guanyu Zhou:
"We had good pace today, which allowed us to get in the mix and climb up a few positions. I reckon our car has been much more competitive in dry conditions, and we'll be working on making it better in all circumstances ahead of the second part of the season. Considering our starting positions, it was going to be difficult to make up ground, but in general, I was especially satisfied with my last stint, when we were able to come up from the back of the pack up to 13th place. Now, I am very excited to go home for the summer break, to switch off and recharge the batteries ahead of the second half of the season. We will be starting from Zandvoort, which is a high-downforce track I am looking forward to race on again: hopefully, we will be able to regain our momentum there, and get back into the fight for points."
Lance Stroll:
"It was good to pick up a couple of points today, especially at a circuit where we haven't been particularly strong this weekend. We made the decision to go for a long first stint on the Medium tyres because we could see some rain coming on the radar. The rain did come in some areas of the track, but it was drivable without needing Intermediates, so we boxed for the Soft tyre. It was a bit of a gamble - if the rain had been heavy enough, we could have saved ourselves the extra stop - but in hindsight two stops was probably the better strategy. The last stages of the race became about managing the Soft tyre, so I didn't really have the grip to defend when Esteban [Ocon] was closing in.
"We've had a mixed start to the season and I think we know there's some work to do as we head into the second half. That being said, it's been a huge step up from last year and I know the team is motivated to keep pushing for more."
Fernando Alonso:
"I was lucky at the start: I made up a few places into Eau Rouge, but then I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hold onto those positions through the first stint. We were fast - we kept one Mercedes and one McLaren behind us - so we were in the mix. That's good news for the whole team as we head into the summer break.
"The car felt great today - and really gave me confidence. This is a high-efficiency circuit - and, after the British Grand Prix, we were a little concerned about our performance coming here. The team changed a few characteristics on the car and it really paid off.
"It's been an incredible first half to the season: we are third in the Constructors' Championship and third in the Drivers' Championship. It was impossible to think of achieving this before the start of the season.
"The whole team did an incredible job today. Now, it's time to recharge our batteries over the summer break and come back stronger."
Kevin Magnussen:
"I felt there was a little more to fight for this race, I had a bit more competitiveness. We still have way more degradation than everyone else, which I think is the main differentiator today. Pace-wise at the beginning of the stints it felt like we could fight for the top 10 but didn't have the degradation to keep fighting to the end. I think we're getting a good understanding of what we need to do and I'm looking forward to the second half of the year, looking forward to some upgrades, and making some changes to the car. Hopefully we can get back in the game, we're still P8 in the Constructors' Championship and that's our aim as a team to gain another position from last year. We've got everything to play for."
Nico Hulkenberg:
"I think tire degradation was high and also car pace wasn't good enough to challenge for points. We'll reset, regroup and we have three weeks to refresh and hopefully come back stronger in Zandvoort. I'm disappointed after a day like today, but I'm first and foremost still very happy to be back, enjoying myself and having a good time in the car. Working and pushing the team and having battles on-track, the positives still outweigh a difficult Sunday, but we need and want some performance in the car."
Yuki Tsunoda:
"The team did a fantastic job today; the car was flying and I'm happy to finish in the points before the summer break. A huge well done to the entire team: the mechanics, people in Bicester and Faenza, and trackside engineers. It's been a long time since I scored points, and I've been struggling in the last few races, so I'm very happy now. We were slightly lucky with a couple of cars retiring in front of us, but I felt really comfortable during the race. The car went naturally forward, and I was just managing my tyres. At one point there was some rain, but fortunately, it stopped quite quickly, and I could keep up the pace and drive consistently. After the horrible day I had yesterday, I didn't want to take that feeling into the summer break, so I'm happy I could extract and maximise the car's performance. I feel I could give back to the team, apologise to them, and give them a little bit of positive energy going into the break. Now I'll rest as much as I can and prepare for the second half of the season."
Daniel Ricciardo:
"Honestly, it was tough in traffic. Maybe a race with more clear air could've been better, but in general I'm not convinced we had great pace today. It felt like we never got the peak out of the tyres, and we couldn't generate enough grip in the second sector. When we were in clear air later in the race, I felt we were more competitive, but in traffic, it was definitely hard. The reality is, these were my first dry laps in this car on this track, and I don't know this car that well yet, so I still felt there was a little missing, but we'll figure it out. Many are now looking forward to a well-deserved holiday, but the situation is slightly different for me as the break is a good chance for me to keep working behind the scenes. After a few days off, I'll spend time in the gym and use my days training, to be able to further improve on my race fitness."
Alex Albon:
I had a good start today; however, I was almost surprised I fell out of the points in the mid stint, but I was just struggling so much with degradation. The whole weekend was tricky, and the race was just the same. We're running low downforce, which is fun but going through sector two, it degs the tyres so much. The amount of deg was a bit of a wakeup call, particularly on that Medium tyre. I was having to over-push the tyre to stay in front in sector two and as soon as I tried to manage the tyre, I was immediately under fire from cars behind, so it's a vicious cycle. I think we need to go away and work out why we struggled so much this weekend, as at the end of the day, this downforce is going to be similar to Monza and that's our next occasion to likely score points. We'll need to make sure we learn from this weekend, so when we come back to tracks that suit us, we don't have this problem again.
Logan Sargeant:
It was a really good first 4 or 5 laps. I think we left that first stop too late and pretty much got undercut from where we were to the back, so that was a bit disappointing. Once we were on the Medium tyre, we really struggled with degradation and I don't think it helped where we came out, as we came straight out into a fight. It was a tough day for both of us, so need to go away and look at why this happened. This weekend obviously hasn't panned out how we expected, so it's disappointing but we'll regroup, take this break and come back refreshed and ready for more.
