Hamilton wins thrilling Belgian GP with Russell disqualified

Lewis Hamilton has won the Belgian Grand Prix after team mate George Russell, who had originally come home in first, was disqualified following the race for an underweight car.

The Mercedes duo had engaged in a thrilling late chase, with two-stopper Hamilton charging down his one-stopping team mate, but he was unable to pass on track for the victory, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finishing third.

However, following the conclusion of the Grand Prix, a Technical Delegate’s Report stated that Russell’s car had been found to be underweight, with the matter referred to the stewards. The Briton was subsequently disqualified from the results with Mercedes acknowledging a “genuine error” by the team.

In terms of the on-track action, Charles Leclerc had made a good start from pole position to initially lead, before being overtaken by Hamilton within two laps. From there the seven-time world champion looked strong at a track where he has been victorious on four prior occasions.

While most of the field opted for a two-stop race, Russell had taken a gamble by making just one visit to the pits on Lap 10 of 44, meaning that he was attempting to nurse his aging hard tyres as the Grand Prix entered its final stages.

Hamilton had closed right onto the back of his team mate in the last laps and, despite getting agonisingly close, the Briton was unable to find a way past Russell, who crossed the line just half a second ahead for what would have been his third Grand Prix win without his disqualification.

Behind the Mercedes pair, Piastri worked his way forwards to claim third for McLaren, which is now second, while Charles Leclerc will move up to third in the Ferrari. Max Verstappen bounced back from his P11 start to put his Red Bull into fifth place on the road, and now fourth in the results.

Despite getting close to Verstappen, Lando Norris had to settle for fifth on what looked to be a tough day at times for the McLaren man, and his former team mate Carlos Sainz claimed sixth behind for Ferrari.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ended the day down in P7, having been overtaken by Sainz in the latter stages amid continuing pressure around the Mexican’s place in the team.

Fernando Alonso took eighth for Aston Martin with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the top-10.

Lance Stroll followed in the Aston Martin in P11 and Alex Albon took for Williams.

Pierre Gasly was 13th for Alpine on a weekend where Bruno Famin’s departure as Team Principal was announced, while Kevin Magnussen in the Haas crossed the line in 14th.

There were again no points for Kick Sauber, with Valtteri Bottas ending the race in P15, ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, the Williams of Logan Sargeant and Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg bringing up the rear in P18.

Zhou Guanyu was the only retirement of the day, having suffered a hydraulic issue with his Kick Sauber.

AS IT HAPPENED

After Verstappen set an impressive benchmark to take P1 in Saturday’s qualifying – before being demoted to P11 on the grid owing to an engine penalty, thus promoting Leclerc into pole position – attentions shifted to Sunday’s 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix.

There were some slight changes to the grid ahead of the event; along with Verstappen’s aforementioned grid drop, Tsunoda was forced to start from the back for taking on multiple new power unit elements, while Zhou received a three-place penalty for impeding Verstappen during Q1.

When the tyre blankets came off as the cars assembled on the grid for the expected two-stop race, it was confirmed that everybody had opted for the mediums with the exception of Sainz and Zhou – who had both bolted on the hard tyre – and Ricciardo on the soft compound.

Leclerc made a good start to hold the lead off the line, while Hamilton also had an eye-catching launch and got the better of Perez. Norris, meanwhile, dipped a wheel into the gravel and dropped down a number of places, while Verstappen was already making gains.

By the end of Lap 2, the Dutchman had climbed up to P8 to put himself on the tail of Norris. Up at the front just one lap later, Hamilton utilised DRS to sweep past Leclerc on the Kemmel Straight to take the lead of the race.

At the rear of the pack, Zhou had suffered a loss of power and was attempting to get his Kick Sauber back to the pit lane before then managing to get the car going again. Elsewhere, Piastri was piling the pressure on Perez in a scrap for third, with the gaps remaining close throughout the field.

“Something is moving down by my legs,” Hamilton reported over the radio on Lap 6. The issue did not seem to be slowing the Mercedes man down, though, having built a lead of nearly one and a half seconds from Leclerc.

It looked like Zhou’s issue was in fact unfixable, with the Chinese driver pulling into the pits to retire the car. Further ahead, Norris and Verstappen found themselves being held up by Sainz in sixth on the hard tyres.

Hulkenberg became the first driver to pit on Lap 8, while others including Albon, Ricciardo and Sargeant followed one lap later. And on Lap 10, Russell and Verstappen were amongst the first of the front-runners to make a pit stop, with each emerging back on track in 12th and 14th respectively with the hard compound on.

It was soon time for Hamilton to pit from the lead, bringing him back out in sixth also on the hard tyre, while Perez and Piastri also pitted. Piastri was quickly battling when back on track, having overtaken Russell before then chasing Perez.

While Leclerc pitted on Lap 13 to emerge back in fifth, Piastri made his way past Perez to take P5. This all left Sainz and Norris up front in first and second, with neither having made their pit stop. “Maximum pace,” Norris was told by his engineer, before the Briton eventually pitted on Lap 16 to undercut Sainz.

Replays showed the Spaniard having quite a moment at Turn 14 in the lead, with his Ferrari making a foray into the gravel but managing to get back on track. Verstappen, meanwhile, was looking racy in P7 as he chased down Russell up ahead – though interestingly the Mercedes was benefitting from a tow courtesy of Verstappen’s team mate Perez.

Was Sainz going to attempt a one-stop? The Ferrari driver was told “Plan B” by his engineer before diving into the pit lane for his stop on Lap 21 to switch to the medium tyres, bringing him back out into P8.

Elsewhere, Russell overtook Perez for fourth place and, within a couple of laps, the Mexican made an early second pit stop to take on the hard compound. Back at the front, Hamilton was leading by 1.8s from Leclerc, with Piastri a few seconds back in third.

On Lap 23, there was action in the lower midfield as Ricciardo surged past Sargeant for P16, leaving the American to face pressure from the other RB car of Tsunoda. It was also getting close between Verstappen and Norris, but a mistake from the latter over the bus stop chicane caused the McLaren to lose a bit of ground.

Leclerc visited the pits for a second stop on Lap 26 in an attempt to undercut Hamilton, but at 3.4s it was a slightly slow stop for the Monegasque. Hamilton followed suit within one lap, resulting in the Mercedes and Ferrari now running in sixth and seventh respectively.

This left Piastri out in the lead, and the Australian soon put in the fastest lap of the race. “It goes without saying, but clean air is king,” he commented to his engineer. A flurry of action kicked off the pit lane, meanwhile, as Verstappen and Sainz each pitted again on Lap 29 – the Red Bull for mediums, Ferrari for hards.

One tour later and Norris made a pit stop to bolt on the hard compound, bringing the Briton out in a potentially difficult spot between Verstappen and Sainz. Piastri then pitted from the lead on Lap 31 – but, having overshot the box, it was a slower stop at 4.4s, putting him back on track in fourth.

Russell had taken the lead amid this round of pit stops, with the Silver Arrows car having not made a second visit to the pits. Could he make a one-stop work? Hamilton was six seconds behind in P2, while Leclerc followed in P3.

As Lap 33 ticked down, a number of potential battles were brewing up. Norris was continuing to chase Verstappen for P5, while Hamilton had cut the gap further to Russell, with the latter having to nurse his tyres.

Piastri also looked keen to bounce back from his slower pit stop as he hunted down Leclerc for third. The Australian tried to go around the outside of his rival at the chicane but couldn’t make it stick.

“Am I on target to beat him or not?” Hamilton asked his race engineer about Russell, to which the response was, “It’s close”. Elsewhere, Piastri pulled off a fine overtake on Leclerc to snatch a potential podium.

With seven laps remaining, Russell – despite running on aging hard tyres – was ahead of his team mate by just under three seconds. Leclerc, meanwhile, was facing pressure from Verstappen in the fight for fourth, with Norris also close behind the Dutchman.

Sainz made a straightforward move on Perez to take P7, while – with just a few laps left – Hamilton had closed right in on the back of Russell. “Give each other plenty of space,” was the warning from the Mercedes pit wall.

As Hamilton looked at making a move two laps from the end, Russell managed to hold onto the lead – while Piastri was also closing in behind. Could Russell hold on to the end?

Despite getting incredibly close, Hamilton was ultimately unable to find a way past his team mate, crossing the line just 0.526s back.

However, there was post-race drama as Russell’s car was found to be underweight and he was subsequently disqualified from the race results, handing victory to his team mate.

One week on from his debut victory in Hungary, Piastri delivered a strong performance to take second, while Leclerc took third despite pressure from Verstappen and Norris, with the Red Bull and McLaren drivers having to settle for fourth and fifth respectively.

Sainz ended the day in P6 ahead of Perez in what would surely be a disappointing result for the Mexican given his front row start. Alonso, Ocon and Ricciardo meanwhile, completed the top-10. Stroll, Albon, Gasly and Magnussen followed in P11 to P14.

It was again a day without points for Kick Sauber after Bottas took P15, ahead of Tsunoda in P16, Sargeant in P17 and Hulkenberg in a tough day for Haas in P18. Zhou was the only retiree of the day, having suffered a hydraulic issue with his Kick Sauber.

Key quote

“We had such a disaster on Friday – the car was really nowhere – and we made some changes,” said Hamilton after the race. “Hard to see what it was going to feel like obviously because of the wet yesterday, but the car was fantastic today and we really owe it to everyone both here doing a solid job through the pit stops and strategy and the guys back at the factory.”

What’s next

F1 will now embark on its traditional summer break before returning for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23-25.