In what will go down as one of his greatest performances in a race car, George Russell won an exhilarating 2024 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, defying his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton who had led and controlled most of the race.
In one of the most open races of the season, any one of eight drivers was capable of winning today, but in the end, Russell called a one-stop strategy to his Mercedes team and made his tyres run 34 laps to register his greatest drive and a most deserved second victory of the season.
It never seemed on, with Hamilton closing in fast it seemed a slam-dunk that he would overtake Russell. But the younger driver dug deeper than ever, and kept those much older tyres alive to take an unlikely, albeit ultra-popular victory.
Delighted, Russell beamed after his third F1 victory: "Amazing result! Definitely didn't predict this win this morning in our strategy meeting. The car was feeling awesome. We made a lot of changes from Friday night and the tyres felt great. I kept saying 'I think we could do a one-stop'.
"The strategy did a great job. Well done to Lewis. He really controlled that race. If the circumstances were different, I'm sure he would have got the victory. One-two for the team is an awesome result," declared Russell.
Hamilton: First I have to say congratulations to George
Four-time Belgian GP winner, Hamilton tapped into his vast experience at Spa-Francorchamps, to dispatch Leclerc but his teammate was a bridge too far for F1's record winner. Victory 105 was so close, half a second away, but no cigar.
In Parc Ferme after the race, Hamilton said: "First I have to say congratulations to George and to the team. We had such a disaster on Friday. The car was really nowhere. We made some changes, hard to see what it was going to feel like because of the wet yesterday.
"But the car was fantastic today and we really owe it to everyone, both here doing a solid job with pit stops and strategy, and the guys back at the factory," added Hamilton.
The Mercedes duo were pursued relentlessly by McLaren's Oscar Piastri who finished P3 after another stellar performance, including priceless overtakes during a frenetically tense race. A two-second pitstop fumble by the McLaren crew cost F1's youngest driver a better shot at a second win.
Piastri: Clean air was such a big difference
Piastri summed up his race: "Clean air was such a big difference. Once I got clean air in the middle stint, I picked up a lot of pace and I managed to get a nice tyre delta for the last stop but clearly didn't need a tyre delta.
"Just needed to keep going as George showed! Very happy with the result. We managed the race very well. I don't think we could have done too much more," reckoned the Australian.
Charles Leclerc was the surprise pole starter, but the Ferrari driver could only hang on to the lead for three laps before Hamilton took the lead. The Red car chased for the rest of the afternoon to finish P4.
World Championship leader Max Verstappen was P5, after starting P11. Although he was easily fastest in the wet on Saturday, the Red Bull driver did not have the firepower to do any better.
Perez disappoints yet again at a very bad time
Teammate Perez, who started P2, ended p8 at a time when he needed a far better result to save his career as speculation mounts he will be replaced.
Lando Norris chased Verstappen all race long, but the McLaren driver had no answer on a scrappy afternoon by his high standards. Today he was comprehensively outshone by Piastri.
P7 went to Carlos Sainz who went differently to his rivals with Hard Pirelli tyres to start with while all the others in the top ten went with the Mediums. Although he led for a stage, but the strategy went awry at some point.
Behind Perez, Fernando Alonso made the most of his below-par Aston Martin to take a lonely P9, ahead of Alpine's Esteban Ocon who took the final point.
Final word to winning Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff: "George was very good all of today but then when you look at the pace, Lewis was very good today. So I think they both did a fabulous job. The strategy played for George and not for Lewis, and as I said, I’d like to have two winners today."
As for Mercedes awakening at this stage of the 2024 F1 World Championship, Wolff said: "Unfortunately, the season started in March and not in Austria. We just need to keep both feet on the ground and try to do the best every race and then we’re going to see what the outcome at the end of the championship is. If we finish third, that would be a success."
2024 Belgian Grand Prix Result
How the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix unfolded:
On the grid, Sainz is only one in the top 10 on white-band Hard Pirelli tyres; Zhou the only other one on Hards down in P19. Ricciardo only driver on red-band Softs. Rest of the field on yellow-band Mediums.
Surviving Turn 1 is key for everyone on the grid. Lights out! Great start by Leclerc. Even better start from Hamilton who makes up a place on Perez, who has a couple fo stabs before tucking into P3. Norris falls a couple of places.
Verstappen on the move. Making stellar moves up to P8 by lap 2. Norris down to P7 battling Sainz. Also on lap 2, The #1 Red Bull is in the McLaren's mirrors. Leclerc and Hamilton ran nose to tail, edging ahead of Perez. Lap 3 on the Kemmel Straight, HAM pounces and streaks past Leclerc to take the lead. Top ten within seven seconds.
Lap 3. Hamilton pops the fastest lap. Leclerc sticking to DRS range of the Merc, with Perez hanging into their slipstream. Ditto Piastri behind the trio, with the best seats in the house for the 'show' ahead.
Lap 6. Russell in Piastri's wake, with Sainz, Norris and Verstappen. The top 8, covered by five seconds. Alonso in P9 a further second and a bit adrift of the Champ's Red Bull and Albon in the final points position. Close stalemate at this point of the contest. Hamilton out of DRS range, extending his lead over Leclerc and the chasing pack.
Lap 7. Zhou parks the Sauber. DNF for the Chinese driver. Verstappen within DRS-range of Norris in battle for P7, 6.6s down on leader Hamilton.
Lap 8. Sainz stalking Russell, within DRS-range of the Mercedes. Hulkenberg first driver to pit stop. Triggering stops for Sargeant, Albon and Ricciardo.
Lap 10, Top 10
Lap 10. Front-runners begin their stops. Verstappen and Russell stop the Mercedes in P12.
Lap 12. Hamilton, Piastri and Perez box. Leclerc leads from Sainz but yet to stop. Piastri and Russell drag strip down the Kemmel with the McLaren slotting ahead of the Mercedes. Piastri attacking Perez for P6 and position, who has Stroll in the way. Leclerc boxes at the end of the lap.
Lap 13. Piastri takes Perez on the brakes into Les Combes. The McLaren setting purples straight after. Yet to stop at the front, Sainz leads from Norris by a couple of seconds, with Hamilton on fresh rubber 7.6s adrift. Leclerc 1.5s behind in P2.
Lap 15. Norris makes the first pitstop and emerges P8. Sainz leads, running on his first set. Rest in the top ten have stopped barring Magnussen in P9.
Lap 16. Sainz goes gravel-ing through Turn 15 which costs him a couple of seconds while leading.
Lap 18. Russell in a Red Bull sandwich of Perez and Verstappen, in a tense battle for P5.
Lap 19. Sainz has yet to box and wants to go longer.
Lap 20, Top 10
Lap 20. Russell harasses Perez for P5, with Verstappen watching the action from P7. Sainz finally boxes from the lead emerging P7. Hamilton is now P1, 1.8s ahead of Leclerc in P3 and Piastri a further 3.0s behind.
Lap 21. Russell takes P4 from Perez into Les Combes. The RBR pits on Lap 22 for another set of Hards. Checo complains that his car is down on speed.
Lap 22. Norris setting fastest laps at this point, hunting and in DRS range of Verstappen in P5.
Lap 25. Hamilton leads Leclerc by 2.3s, the pair 2.5s over Piastri in P3.
Lap 26. Stalemate among the top ten. No one is within DRS range of one another. Leclerc pits, but it's a tardy 3.4s pitstop by Ferrari. Hamilton gets a hurry up in the lead.
P27. Hamilton boxes and emerges ahead of Leclerc. Undercut defended. Piastri inherits the lead and sets the fastest lap at this point, with Russell 5.2s down in P2. In P3, Verstappen 1.5s in their wake was harried by Norris for P3.
P28. Piastri pushed hard, making the most of the McLaren in clear air.
Lap 29. Verstappen and Sainz make second pitstops. The Red Bull emerges on Mediums. Norris stops at the end of the lap.
Lap 30, Top 10
Lap 30. Perez gives Verstappen a free pass. Piastri very slow 4.4s pitstop.
Lap 31. Norris 'Kemmels' past Perez to take P6. At the front, Russell leads Hamilton by 6.8s and going for a one-stop. Leclerc in P3, 2.3s down on the #44 Mrec. A further 1.5s back, Piastri is P4 with Verstappen 4.3s back and Norris still stalking the World Champ.
Lap 34. Stalemate descends over the top ten. Piastri chasing Leclerc for P3 and closing. Ditto Hamilton closing in on Russell in the lead.
P35. Piastri vs Leclerc gets serious with the podium spot at stake. Same thing, with Norris battling Verstappen for P4.
P36, Piastri eases past Leclerc through Les Combes in style. The Aussie on the podium at this point.
P37. Russell's lead eroding fast with Hamilton 3.1s behind, with Piastri 5.6 further back. Norris still hounding Verstappen for P5.
Lap 41. The top three battle is in full swing. Russell closed in by Hamilton, and Piastri reeling in the two dueling Mercs. It was riveting stuff.
Lap 44. Russell withstands immense pressure from Hamilton to win. Piastri waiting for a mistake that never came finished P3
The winner of today's 69th Belgian Grand Prix is harder to predict than normal on a couple of fronts, the daunting Spa-Francorchamps Circuit is always an intriguing place and the grid is interesting to say the least.
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Spa, as it showed already this weekend, is a moody place when it comes to weather. When the micro-climate system that governs conditions in the Ardennes decides it wants to have a say in a Grand Prix, it can do with consequences!
Charles Leclerc surprised everyone by popping into P2 on the timing screens at the end of a tense and wet Qualifying session in Belgium on Saturday. Even the Ferrari driver was bemused. Also surprisingly, Sergio Perez survived into Q3 for a change and he at one stage had P2 in the bag, until Leclerc's cheeky lap dropped the Red Bull driver to P3.
Verstappen looking to make it four in a row at his other home race
Top of the pops, of course, was half-Dutchman and half-Belgian Max Verstappen who blitzed around his other home track to end the session P1 and a six-tenths of a second gap to P2. But a planned, PU-related ten-place grid drop penalty for the triple F1 World Champion means a P11 grid line-up for the #1 car.
Thus Leclerc starts from pole position for the 25th time in his career. Perez is P2 on the front row of the grid with four-time winner at Spa, Lewis Hamilton P3 in his Mercedes, alongside McLaren's Lando Norris starting P4.
Behind them is the other Merc-McLaren row, of George Russell and Oscar Piastri, with an all-Spanish Row 4 of Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso in P8.
Notably, six of the seven drivers on the first four rows have won races this year. Hence, the inevitable unpredictability of the race ahead, as any of those drivers is capable of a win should fate favour them today.
Who will shine at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix?
Monaco GP winner Leclerc put that Ferrari where it is against the odds. It was pure driving skill and mastering tricky conditions for that one lap when it mattered in Q3. We know Charles is the master of those, but what of the race pace in the SF24?
Perez needs to shine. He is the odd one out without a win of the top seven on today's grid and under massive pressure to not get himself ditched by Red Bull before the end of this season. The Mexican's form has been dismal. If he messes this one up, he probably will get swapped out during the summer break.
Hamilton is hunting his fifth win in Belgium today. Mercedes are on a high with recent back-to-back victories, Sir Lewis sensationally won his home British Grand Prix and will always be a factor with a decent car. He is also most likely to rise to the occasion, no matter what nature decides today for Spa-Francorchamps.
After topping FP2 with their McLarens, Miami winner Norris and Piastri, fresh from his Hungary victory, lamented their starting positions. But should the weather be dry and preferably (for them) sunny, it could be Hungary all over. But wet weather like Saturday over Spa may be their Achilles heel.
Surviving Turn 1 at Spa will be the first order of business today
Russell, winner in Austria, is also in the mix as is Sainz who showed in Melbourne he can turn pain into victory. The seven-tenths of a second gap to his teammate in Saturday's Qualifying Leclerc will hurt the Spaniard. What can he do in the race?
Then of course, there is Verstappen, starting P11, you know that no matter what is thrown at the Red Bull ace, he will deal with it like no other can. However, a P11 start is in the heart of F1 darkness, where bent metal is de rigeur and incidents aplenty.
Surviving the Turn 1 hairpin on the opening lap will be key for everyone. Verstappen more so simply because if he gets around the hairpin, from P11 on the grid, without incident, expect him to challenge for victory in the way only Max can. He is aiming for his fourth win in a row at Spa today.
Other sideshows to look out for at the Belgian Grand Prix?
- 60-place grid drop for Yuki! What can the VCARB driver do starting from Brussels?
- How fast will Fernando into 'F2 engine' territory?
- Freefall for Alpine in the race after not-so-bad Qualy?
- TBH not much else to see beyond the top eight or so for this race.
- Who prangs first? Logan? Lance? Zhou or Max?
2024 Belgian Grand Prix Starting Grid
Belgian Grand Prix Facts & Stats by Reuters
- Circuit Spa-Francorchamps
- Round 14 of the 24-race championship and last before the August break:
- Lap distance: 7.004km. Total distance: 308.052km (44 laps)
- 2023 pole position: Charles Leclerc (Monaco), Ferrari, one minute 46.988 seconds*
- 2023 race winner: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull Race lap record: 1:46.286, Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes 2018)
- Start time: 1300GMT (1500 local)
- There is no Belgian driver on the starting grid but Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris have Belgian mothers.
- Verstappen, who is chasing a fourth successive Belgian GP victory, was born in Belgium.
- The 2021 race was Formula One's shortest, lasting three laps due to heavy rain after starting from the pitlane behind the safety car. Half-points were awarded.
- This year's will be the 69th Belgian Grand Prix and 57th at Spa. Eleven of the last 22 have been won from pole position.
- Spa is the longest lap in F1 and one of the fastest, with an average speed of around 230kph. Cars can hit 315kph at Blanchimont.
- Four current drivers have won at Spa: Lewis Hamilton (2010, 2015, 2017, 2020), Daniel Ricciardo (2014), Leclerc (2019), Verstappen (2021, 2022, 2023).
- Michael Schumacher won a record six times at Spa, including from 16th on the grid in a wet 1995 race.
2023 F1 World Championship
- Verstappen has led the championship for a record 52 successive races dating back to Spain in May 2022.
- Verstappen arrives in Belgium 76 points clear of Norris.
- Red Bull are 51 points clear of McLaren.
Grand Prix Victories
- Hungary was McLaren's 49th one-two win.
- Four teams -- Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes -- have won a race this season, the most since 2021 when Red Bull, Mercedes, Alpine and McLaren won.
- Seven different drivers have also triumphed, the most in a single season since 2012 when there were eight.
- Red Bull have had three races without a win, the champions' longest such run since 2021. Verstappen last went four races without a win in 2020.
- Verstappen has won seven of 13, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz triumphant in Melbourne, Norris in Miami, Leclerc in Monaco, Mercedes's George Russell in Spain, Mercedes' Hamilton in Britain and McLaren's Oscar Piastri in Hungary.
- Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren have won with both drivers, unlike Red Bull.
- Seven times world champion Hamilton has a record 104 career victories from 345 starts. His win at Silverstone was his first since 2021 and ended a run of 56 races without a win -- a wait of 945 days in total.
- Red Bull have won 120 races and are fourth in the all-time list of winners. Ferrari lead with 245, McLaren have 185 and Mercedes 127.
- Verstappen has won 61 grands prix and is third on the all-time list. Michael Schumacher is second on 91.
Poles & Podiums
- Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent a year ago in Hungary.
- Verstappen has had eight poles so far this year. That includes the first seven of the season, equalling Alain Prost's 1993 record, and eight in a row including the last race of 2023 -- equalling Ayrton Senna's 1988-89 record.
- Leclerc took pole in Monaco and Russell was fastest in Canada and Britain. Norris took the top spot in Spain and Hungary.
- Verstappen has 107 career podiums, Hamilton a record 200.
- Verstappen has been on the podium nine times this season, Norris eight, Leclerc and Sainz five each.
- Leclerc starts the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix from pole.
Milestones
- Sunday's win in Hungary was Piastri's first in Formula 1
- Piastri first Grand Prix winner born in the 21st century.
- Piastri is the fifth Australian to win in F1.
- Piastri is the 115th driver to win a grand prix.
- Hamilton took his 200th F1 podium appearance.
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