Max Verstappen Wins 2023 Belgian F1 Grand Prix; Extends Historic Win Streak to 8

Another day and another Max Verstappen victory.

The Red Bull driver won his eighth consecutive F1 race with a first-place finish at Sunday's 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. He was joined by teammate Sergio Pérez (second) and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc (third) on the podium.

The result was all the more notable for Verstappen because he became just the second driver in F1 history to win eight straight races. Only Sebastian Vettel has a longer streak throughout history, and that also happened with Red Bull.

Vettel won nine consecutive races in 2013, which propelled him to his fourth career World Drivers' Championship. Verstappen is well on his way to his third straight World Drivers' Championship and is now just one win away from tying Vettel's record.

This F1 season is well past the point where anything but a Verstappen victory would be a stunning surprise. In fact, the last time the points leader didn't win a race was when Red Bull teammate Pérez captured the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April.

Pérez, who also won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March, is the only other driver with a victory this season, underscoring Red Bull's dominance in the constructor standings.

Everyone else figured to battle behind Red Bull for much of the Belgian Grand Prix, but Leclerc at least had the advantage of pole position after Verstappen was dropped to sixth on the grid due to a penalty despite having the best time in qualifying.

Yet Leclerc sounded anything but confident he would parlay the pole position into a win when he told reporters, "I think they've got a much better race car than we have. I mean it's great to be starting first, and I think it gives us a great chance to have a great result.

"But to say that we'll target the win, I think this would be a bit too optimistic. If there's an opportunity for whatever reason, as always, I'll try and get it. But I believe it's going to be difficult to keep those guys behind."

Leclerc was exactly right.

Pérez passed him on the first lap, and Verstappen overtook him on the ninth. It didn't take long for Verstappen to move into a familiar first place, as he surpassed his teammate and seized the lead on the 17th lap.

Not even temporary rain in the middle of the race could change the inevitable, as Verstappen pulled away from Pérez and eliminated any drama regarding the result for the second half of the race.

The only real question was who would join the Red Bull drivers on the podium with Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton battling for third. Leclerc held off the seven-time world champion, securing a solid finish from his pole position.

The story of the F1 season remained the same, though, as Verstappen added yet another win to his resume and maintained his momentum heading into the summer break ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 27.