Max Verstappen overcame a 5-place grid penalty caused by a gearbox change to win the Belgian Grand Prix at a canter ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.

In 2022, Verstappen stormed to victory in this race from 14th place, thanks to similar grid place penalties being placed on him, and so he would have been unfussed by starting from sixth for Sunday's race this year, given the pace that he has in the Red Bull RB19.

Indeed, the Dutchman is in a class of one this year and that showed once again on Sunday, with him cruising past the likes of Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc on his way to P1.

The last man in his way was team-mate Sergio Perez, with the Mexican taking the lead from Leclerc at the start, and after the first round of pit-stops the Dutchman was soon past the Mexican and off and away.

This was a crushing reminder of the level at which Verstappen is performing in the Red Bull, with him taking a step closer to 50 F1 victories in his career, after what has been one of the most dominant first sections of a year we have seen in the sport's history.

Indeed, he heads into the summer break in a very commanding position in the championship, and it surely won't be long after the shutdown that we crown him world champion for the third time.

Behind Verstappen, Perez completed a Red Bull one-two as the team's own march towards the Constructors' crown took a large leap forwards, whilst there was some entertaining racing in behind as Leclerc and Hamilton fought for the final podium place.

Certainly, the battle for best of the rest behind Red Bull is going to endure for the rest of this year by the looks of things, and it was Leclerc who saw off Hamilton today to earn the final spot on the podium.

Meanwhile, it was a less positive day for Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz.

The two were involved in a tangle at the first corner on the first lap, with Sainz locking up in a bid to avoid Hamilton, and as he drifted towards the inside of the corner, Piastri was there.

The McLaren man found himself clouting the wall and he would be stopping out on track later on in the lap, whilst Sainz had a fair amount of damage sustained to his right sidepod.

The Spaniard was kept out by Ferrari, but it was clear that his car was not performing at its optimum, with the pack queueing up behind him just waiting for their opportunity to pounce.

Indeed, just over the halfway point in the race, Ferrari decided that enough was enough and they retired the car, meaning an early start to the summer break for Sainz alongside Piastri.

That's the first part of the season wrapped up, then, and it could not have gone any better for Max Verstappen, who heads into the break surely just waiting to get going again in order to seal the title.

Belgian Grand Prix classification

1. Max Verstappen

2. Sergio Perez

3. Charles Leclerc

4. Lewis Hamilton

5. Fernando Alonso

6. George Russell

7. Lando Norris

8. Esteban Ocon

9. Lance Stroll

10. Yuki Tsunoda

11. Pierre Gasly

12. Valtteri Bottas

13. Zhou Guanyu

14. Alex Albon

15. Kevin Magnussen

16. Daniel Ricciardo

17. Logan Sargeant

18. Nico Hulkenberg

R. Carlos Sainz

R. Oscar Piastri