Ferrari's Charles Leclerc takes maiden Grand Prix win in Belgium

The mid-season break is over and Formula One has a new name in the list of F1 race champions. It is Ferrari's new superstar Charles Leclerc, who started the race from the pole position and crossed the chequered flag as the winner of Belgian Grand Prix defeating current drivers' championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who finished second.

After an unintentional contact with Alfa Romeo's Kimi Räikkönen at the starting of the race, Red Bull star Max Verstappen hit the outside barrier as he faced issues with the steering wheel. Former Ferrari driver, Räikkönen managed to survive but had to take a pit stop to replace the nose of his car when the safety car was deployed. Meanwhile, McLaren's Carlos Sainz also had to retire as he was also one of the victims of the initial chaos.

There is no doubt that during the mid-season break Ferrari, who failed to satisfy its fans in the first half of this F1 season, worked on their cars to break the chain of dominance by Mercedes. Both the drivers took the first two places during the final qualifier, while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton managed to settle down as a third grid driver.

Even though Mercedes is known for its perfect pit stop strategies, in Belgian GP Lewis Hamilton's 3.6second pit stop was not an ideal timing at all. But the defending world champion took the advantage of DRS and surpassed the German driver Sebastian Vettel in the 31st lap to gain the second position.

When the race was over the British motor racing star said, "I gave it absolutely everything I had... It was a really difficult race today: Ferrari was just too fast on the straights."

"Congratulations to Charles for his first win, he's had it coming all year, so I'm really happy for him," Lewis Hamilton added.

The other Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was also pumped up to gain a third-place victory after Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took a pit stop. It should be mentioned that currently, both the Mercedes stars are the top two contenders of the drivers' championship.

During the last lap, Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi crashed his car and unfortunately could not finish the race, while Lando Norris also faced a power unit problem which led him to retirement.

On Saturday, August 31 at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit a Formula 2 driver, aged 22, Anthoine Hubert died in a horrific crash, which shook the motor racing world. Many F1 drivers including five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and F2 driver Mick Schumacher took it to social media to express how divesting the news was.

After the Sunday's race, the Ferrari star who took the maiden F1 victory at Spa and gave his team the taste of victory for the first time in this season, said, "On the one a hand a dream I've had since I was a child has been realised, but on the other, it has been a very difficult weekend. I grew up with Anthoine and I want to dedicate my win to him."

Earlier F1's Twitter account posted that "Today we race. We do so with the heaviest of hearts, and we carry the memory of Anthoine throughout. Just like it was for Anthoine, racing is our passion and our dream. It defines us. So today we race for Anthoine. And today, and always, we honour him."

All the F1 drivers came together to pay their tributes to the F2 driver Hubert. The tragic accident also caused serious injuries to American driver Juan Manuel Correa, who is currently in a stable condition after surgery.