Belgium: Daniel's progress stalls out at Spa

A qualifying track limits infringement leaves Daniel 19th on the grid and stuck in a high-speed stalemate on the way to a 16th-place race result.

Race data
Belgium (Round 12 of 22), 28-30 July 2023

Spa-Francorchamps, 7.004km

Sprint Shootout: 11th

Sprint race (11 laps): 10th

Qualified: 19th

Grand Prix (44 laps): 16th

Laps per position: 12th (1 lap), 13th (8 laps), 14th (3 laps), 15th (6 laps), 16th (14 laps), 17th (3 laps), 18th (3 laps), 19th (6 laps)

Pit stops/tyres: Lap 5 (soft/medium), lap 22 (medium/medium)

Fastest lap: 1min 50.994secs (15th), lap 25

Points this event: 0

Points this season: 0 (21st in world championship)

Daniel's download
"I'm glad I got Saturday to get a little bit of redemption and put in a cleaner qualy and therefore a cleaner race … it's clear that the DRS trains are tough and unless you have a big pace advantage – which we don't – you just can't come through the field. The Haas in particular was quick on the straight, so it was tough to do anything. When you get close, you kill the tyres. So I don't think we had a quick race car, but the race was kind of dictated by Friday and the track limits penalty. It was a shame, because Friday I was on it and trying to take Eau Rouge full-throttle, but obviously lost the car so it was a double-hit.

"The few laps we got in cleaner air – my last two laps of the race for example – were a little bit quicker, but even then I didn't feel that great. But in saying that, the pace was competitive with, say, around 10th, but it was tough to show that in dirty air. Out of the pits on new tyres, that's where we seemed to lack compared to the Haas, for example. They could turn the tyre on so much better, where we couldn’t.

"Spa is a such a different circuit to Hungary last weekend, so I think I have an idea on the car's strengths and weaknesses over these two weekends. Here in Belgium, it was pretty mixed – some corners were massive understeer, others were losing the car at the rear a lot. I had a lot of high-speed understeer, and low-speed rear degradation. I think it's pretty clear, and it gives us some ideas of where to go with set-up. And I'm just glad to get the laps in after so much time away, happy to give the team some feedback.

"I'd be good to go again next weekend and not take the mid-season break! But I'm glad I've got two races in, it gives me something to think about and gives me a base with my fitness. The other drivers will be on the beach sipping something, but most of my days will be in the gym – I'm looking forward to it!"

DR’s race recap
* Started 11th and finished 10th in Saturday's 11-lap Sprint race.

* Qualified 19th for Sunday's Grand Prix after losing a lap time that would have placed him 10th in Q1 deleted for a track limits transgression.

* Pitted for medium tyres on lap 5 to re-join in 19th.

* Advanced to 12th on lap 22 before pitting for new medium tyres, re-joining in 19th place.

* Overtook Hulkenberg/Haas for 16th place on lap 42.

* Finished 16th, 1.3secs behind Magnussen/Haas in 15th, and 1.4secs ahead of Sargeant/Williams in 17th after 44 laps.

DR’s next destination
Round 13: Netherlands (Zandvoort), 27 August

Netherlands in 2022: qualified 17th, finished 17th

In F1: 2 races, 0 points

Best finish: 11th (2021)