Formula 1 drivers said it was impossible to make progress in a processional sprint race which saw few overtaking moves.<\/p>\n
The top 13 drivers finished in the order they started with the exceptions of Max Verstappen<\/a>, who passed Oscar Piastri on the first lap, and Pierre Gasly, who was unable to start from eighth on the grid due to a technical problem.<\/p>\n Alexander Albon<\/a>, who finished 16th, blamed the decision two years ago to shorten the DRS zone on the Kemmel straight by 75 metres.<\/p>\n \u201cWe delayed the DRS zones last year or years before and I honestly don\u2019t know why we\u2019ve done that,\u201d he told the official Formula 1 channel, \u201cbecause the overtaking is more and more difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the cars get better and better they\u2019re harder to follow so we need a bit of help. But the DRS zones remain a bit too short. I don\u2019t know how it was for everyone else, but that was very boring.\u201d<\/p>\n However Nico Hulkenberg<\/a>, who was passed by two drivers using DRS, said the effect of tyre degradation when running close behind other cars was what prevented him from fighting.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like a practice session,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the end even the quick cars didn\u2019t progress much. It was quite a static race.<\/p>\n Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIn heavy traffic all race long, if you\u2019re behind five or six cars, the cumulative dirty air effect is so big that you basically have no weapons and you\u2019re just going through your tyres. So it\u2019s just further practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso<\/a>, who lost one place to team mate Lance Stroll during the race, said teams will have to reconsider their approach to the grand prix because overtaking proved so difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was not much action on track,\u201d he said. \u201cI think I started 14th and finished 14th, in DRS trains all the way [through] the race.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably the only lesson is that qualifying may be more important than we thought. It\u2019s important to start up at the front and then try to keep that position. It\u2019s not guaranteed that you can overtake. So this afternoon hopefully we\u2019ll nail the laps and let\u2019s see tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Liam Lawson<\/a> says the fact F1\u2019s field is so close now is making it harder to race. \u201cEveryone\u2019s got quite a fast car right now, it\u2019s very close, so in a race like that it\u2019s very tough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows the differences with downforce levels that different people are running. So it\u2019s a bit boring but tomorrow we have a pit stop in there at least so hopefully we\u2019ll have a bit more strategy to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n