Max Verstappen produced a scintillating drive to surge from 14th on the grid to win the Belgian Grand Prix and further extend his huge championship lead.
The reigning Formula One champion was fastest in Saturday's qualifying session but was one of several drivers to take a grid penalty for a power unit change, leading to him starting on the seventh row.
Yet, just as in the Hungarian Grand Prix before the mid-season break, when he started in 10th, Verstappen expertly worked his way through the field to prevail and claim a second successive win at Spa-Francorchamps.
The raw pace of the Red Bull allowed Verstappen to easily make his way to the front after a chaotic start and a second lap safety car, and he was never threatened after overtaking Carlos Sainz for the lead on lap 18. His team-mate Sergio Perez made it a Red Bull one-two, with the Ferraris of Sainz and Charles Leclerc sandwiched by Mercedes driver George Russell on a day that saw Verstappen's lead stretched to 96 points.
Fernando Alonso got a lightning start to put his Alpine ahead of Perez into the first corner, with the Red Bull man also overtaken by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
Yet the good work of the two former McLaren team-mates was soon undone when they collided going into the Les Combes chicane, sending Hamilton airbone as he suffered damage that ended his race.
The next lap then saw the Williams of Nicholas Latifi spin into Valtteri Bottas' Alfa Romeo, prompting a safety car as the latter ended up beached in the gravel.
Sainz locked up at the bus stop chicane at the restart but was still able to stay ahead of Perez and retain the lead.
Yet he soon began losing time to the Red Bulls and had both in his mirrors by the time he pitted on lap 12, Verstappen's spectacular charge through the field rewarded with the lead as he passed Perez while Sainz was in the pit lane.
Sainz was back ahead when Verstappen pitted for medium tyres four laps later, but Ferrari's lack of pace was encapsulated as Leclerc was unable to get past Perez on warmer tyres following the Mexican's pit stop and Verstappen succeeded in breezing past Sainz for the lead.
That set the stage for a serene second half of the race for Verstappen, whose title battle with Leclerc is turning into a procession for the Dutchman.
Ferrari's title hopes take a hit as Leclerc handed grid penalty
Charles Leclerc has been hit with a 10-place grid penalty for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, dealing a significant blow to Ferrari's title hopes.
Ferrari are 21 points behind McLaren in the Constructors' Championship ahead of the final race of the 2024 Formula One season.
With 44 points on offer, the Italian team realistically required high finishes from both Leclerc and his team-mate Carlos Sainz, who will be racing for Ferrari for the final time ahead of Lewis Hamilton's arrival next year.
Ferrari have had to fit a new battery pack to Leclerc's car, meaning they have gone above their permitted allowance for the campaign.
Leclerc had to wait for almost 30 minutes in the pits during Friday's first practice session, as his team dealt with the battery issue. He eventually went out to drive alongside his brother, Arthur.
It means Leclerc, who is just eight points behind second-place Lando Norris in the driver standings, must serve up a brilliant qualifying session on Saturday if he is to give himself, and his team, a firm chance of success in Sunday's race.
Norris' team McLaren are in pole position to take their first Constructors' title since 1998.
Mercedes boss Wolff slams Horner amid Verstappen-Russell row
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hit out at Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner amid the ongoing row between four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen and George Russell.
The tension between the pair, which began during qualifying at last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, escalated quickly after both drivers made further comments ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Reacting to the Dutch driver's comments that he had "lost all respect" for Russell for his role in demoting him from pole position, the Mercedes driver said Verstappen had threatened to crash into him on purpose.
And Mercedes boss Wolff also weighed in on the situation by criticising Horner, who called Russell "hysterical" in Qatar, for falling short of his role.
"I think as a team principal, it's important to be a sparring partner for your drivers, and that means explaining that things can be more nuanced," Wolff said.
"Statements that are absolutistic, thinking that everything is 100% right or 100% wrong, is just something you need to explain. Things are more nuanced, depending on your perception and your perspective.
"You need to allow for something to be 51-49, you need to allow it to be 70-30 - so there is always another side.
"Maybe, when you look at it that way, and you explain it to your drivers and your team, you come to the conclusion that there is truth on both sides. If you don't do that, you're falling short of your role."
Verstappen had qualified fastest in Qatar, but was later demoted to a second-placed start after a rare grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly and impeding Russell in qualifying, after both drivers had a hearing with the stewards.
"Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver?" Wolff added. "How does that come? That even thinking about it, I just had 90 seconds to think about it. Yapping little terrier. Always something to say.
"There is a thing between drivers, and this is George and Max, and I don't want to get involved in that. But if the other team principal calls George 'hysterical', this is where he crosses a line for me.
"His forte, for sure, is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that's quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver?!"
Russell hits back at 'bully' Verstappen as Qatar row escalates
George Russell said "someone needs to stand up a bully like this" as his ugly row with Max Verstappen from the Qatar Grand Prix escalated.
Red Bull driver Verstappen qualified fastest in Qatar but was later demoted a spot after being given a rare grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly and impeding Mercedes' Russell in qualifying.
Four-time world champion Verstappen later said he had "lost all respect" for the British driver, accusing Russell of essentially setting out to earn him a demotion in the stewards room.
Russell has now reacted to the explosive comments in an interview with Sky Sports ahead of the season-ending Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi and accused the Dutchman of threatening to intentionally crash into him in an X-rated retort.
"What he was doing was pretty clear. He was going too slow. He was on the racing line, and we all had the rules to follow, and he didn't follow it," Russel began.
"I find his comments pretty ironic when he comes out and says 'I'm going to purposely crash into you, I'm going to put you on your f****** head in the wall'.
"For me, that is unacceptable, and he's gone beyond the line here, and I'm not going to accept it.
"So somebody's got to stand up to a guy like this before it gets out of control."
Verstappen is reported to have denied the allegation to the Dutch media.
Russell added when asked what further steps he would want to take: "I don't want to go to the stewards' office.
"I had no intention of bringing this up. He said this to me on Saturday night and I woke up on Sunday morning feeling fine. But to come out of those press interviews saying that I'm two-faced, I'm the f-word, and this and that, he's taking this personal.
"What happens on track is professional, what happens in the stewards' is professional, and like Carlos [Sainz] said to him on Sunday morning, 'you would have done the exact same thing'.
"On Sunday in the race he lifted for a yellow, Lando [Norris, who received a penalty which took him out of the fight for the race victory] doesn't lift for a yellow, and he says to the team 'check what Lando does'.
"That's not personal against Lando, that is just racing. I've known Max for 12 years. I respected him all this time, but now I have lost respect for him. We are all fighting on track, and it's never personal," he added.
"Now he's made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this - and so far people are letting him get away with murder."
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