Belgian GP - Race

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Rolex Belgian GP

Race

July 28, 2024

Lewis Hamilton emerged victorious at the Belgian GP after George Russell was disqualified for his car being 1.5 kilograms underweight.

Following a stewards investigation, Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who initially finished second, was subsequently promoted to first place for his second win of the season. Oscar Piastri moved up to second, while Charles Leclerc, who started on pole, secured third place.

After the race, Russell's car was weighed and found to meet the minimum weight requirement of 798kg. However, upon draining fuel from the Mercedes, it was discovered to be underweight.

The stewards reviewed the matter and decided to disqualify Russell's car.

As the drivers crossed the finish line, the top three, including Russell, were separated by just 1.1 seconds.

Throughout most of the race, Hamilton appeared to be in the best position to win. He engaged in a battle with Red Bull's Sergio Perez at the start, advancing to second place, and later overtook Leclerc to claim the lead. However, Russell, starting from sixth, took the lead with a one-stop strategy while the other front-runners opted for a two-stop strategy, causing them to fall behind.

Russell made his first pit stop on Lap 10, with Hamilton following suit two laps later. When Hamilton pitted again on Lap 27, Mercedes opted to keep his teammate out until the end of the race.

Hamilton narrowed the gap to Russell to less than a second in the final four laps but was unable to execute a successful overtaking maneuver at Les Combes, the main opportunity for passing.

Afterwards, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff explained that they required Hamilton to keep an eye on both Leclerc and Lando Norris, while Russell, on the hard tyre, had "nothing to lose."

Prior to the investigation, Russell commented: "Amazing result, we definitely didn't predict this win in our strategy meeting this morning but the car was feeling awesome!

"We made a lot of changes from Friday night and I was saying, 'I feel we can do a one-stop' and the strategy did a really great job. Also well done to Lewis because he really controlled that race and if circumstances were slightly different he would've got that win. But a one-two for the team was an awesome result and a great way to go into the summer break."

In the meantime, Hamilton stated: "We definitely didn't [expect the result]. First I have to say congratulations to George and to the team.

"We had such a disaster on Friday, the car was nowhere and we made some changes and it was hard to see what it was going to feel like because of the rain yesterday, but the car was fantastic and we owe it to everyone here and doing a solid job through the pit stops and strategy and the guys at the factory.

"I was trying to get closer but George did a great job of going long on the tyres. On every stint I had tyres left but the team pulled me in and unfortunate, but it was one of those days."

The challenges posed by the McLarens and championship leader Max Verstappen, who began the race in 11th place, did not come to fruition.

Verstappen crossed the finish line in fourth position (following Russell's disqualification), widening his gap in the championship ahead of Norris, who came in fifth after struggling with a slow start and lacking comfort throughout the race.

After securing his fourth podium finish of the year, Norris' teammate Piastri commented. "I'm happy with the result, we managed the race very well. I think that's the second or third time this year I've tried to run over the front jack, so I'll try not to do that next time.

"It took me a couple of laps to get past Charles and I overheated the tyres doing that, but clearly the pace for George staying out there on one set of hards was the right thing to do, so we just didn't quite have enough pace to mow him down -- even Lewis didn't quite have enough, so I think we did a lot of things right and gave ourselves the best opportunity but not quite enough."

Verstappen holds a lead of 78 points over Norris as they head into the three-week summer break in the drivers' championship. Meanwhile, McLaren narrowed the distance to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to only 43 points.

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Belgian GP 2024 F1 Race Results

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (1:19:57.566)

2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (+1.173)

3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (+8.549)

4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (+9.226)

5. Lando Norris, McLaren (+9.850)

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (+19.795)

7. Sergio Pérez, Red Bull (+43.195)

8. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (+49.963)

9. Esteban Ocon, Alpine (+52.552)

10. Daniel Ricciardo, RB (+54.926)

11. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (+1:03.011)

12. Alexander Albon, Williams (+1:03.651)

13. Pierre Gasly, Alpine (+1:04.365)

14. Kevin Magnussen, Haas (+1:06.631)

15. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber (+1:10.638)

16. Yuki Tsunoda, RB (+1:16.737)

17. Logan Sargeant, Williams (+1:26.057)

18. Nico Hülkenberg, Haas (+1:28.833)

DQ George Russell, Mercedes (--)

Ret Zhou Guanyu, Sauber (+39 Lap)