Update: @GeorgeRussell63 disqualified, @LewisHamilton takes #BelgianGP victory. #F1
Sir Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W15, Formula 1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix 2024, Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. Hamilton Belgian GP Victory, 2024 Belgian GP Results, 2024 F1 Belgian GP, 2024 Formula 1 Belgian GP Results. 2024 Dutch GP Preview, Dutch Grand Prix Preview, F1 Dutch GP Preview, 2024 F1 Dutch Preview.
Hamilton Belgian GP Victory – George Russell was disqualified from the Belgian GP after his F1 W15 entry had been found underweight following the race, meaning that Mercedes team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton takes the victory and the 105th of his career as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three.
Russell had scored victory making a one-stop strategy work to perfection, which saw him manage his C2 white side-walled harder compound to the chequered flag and just held off Hamilton by 0.526 seconds.
However, the FIA Technical Delegate Report after the race stated that, whilst the F1 W15 had initially been found to be compliant with the minimum weight of 798kg, 2.8 litres of fuel was then removed.
The report then said: “The car was not fully drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality documents as TR Article 6.5.2 is fulfilled. The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was 796.5 kg. The calibration of the outside and inside scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. As this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”
After being sent to the stewards, it was confirmed that Russell was disqualified from the Grand Prix, thus Hamilton was promoted as race winner, with Piastri and Leclerc moving up to second and third.
When the 44-lap Belgian GP began, pole-sitter Leclerc gets a good run off the line as Hamilton also behind him and goes alongside Perez and made a move on the inside to take second place off the Mexican.
Through Eau Rouge/Raidillon and down the Kemmel Straight both Hamilton and Perez ran wheel-to-wheel but the former managed to cover the latter as Russell ran wide through Les Combes.
At the beginning of lap two, Leclerc held a 0.600 second lead over Hamilton with Perez third, Piastri fourth, Russell fifth as Norris also attempted to pass Sainz at Les Combes but ran wide and had to give the place back to the Spaniard.
On tour three, Leclerc was under intense pressure from second-placed-Hamilton as the Mercedes driver got right in DRS range.
And with a good exit out of La Source, Hamilton remained in the slip-stream and going through the Eau Rouge/Raidillon complex and with DRS, the Mercedes driver made his way past Leclerc to move up into the lead as further back Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu suffered a loss of power.
On the fourth lap, Hamilton was up 1.042 seconds over Leclerc with Perez third, Piastri fourth, Russell fifth, Sainz sixth, Norris seventh as world champion Max Verstappen completed the top eight.
Meanwhile Zhou got his C44 back running, and his power issue resolved.
Out-front on the sixth lap, Hamilton got out of DRS range from Leclerc and holding a 1.231 second lead over the Monegasque driver.
There was a DRS train starting to form behind Perez Piastri, Russell, Sainz, Norris and Verstappen all within range of each other as Zhou became the first retiree of the race due to a hydraulics issue.
After Hulkenberg was the first to pit on lap eight for hards, the Williams duo of Albon and Sargeant and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo all came in for a set of mediums a tour later and emerged in 16th, 17th and 19th respectively.
On lap 10, Hamilton’s lead increased to 2.118 seconds over Leclerc with Perez third, Piastri fourth, Russell fifth, Sainz sixth, Norris seventh as Verstappen rounded out the top eight runners.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly also came in for his stop to take on a set of hards and came out in 18th behind Albon, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.
A tour later, both Russell and Verstappen came in from seventh and eighth for a set of hards and emerged in 13th and 14th behind RB Yuki Tsunoda as both attempt the undercut on Sainz and Norris respectively.
Russell made short work of Tsunoda passing him on the Kemmel Straight.
Race leader Hamilton, Perez and Piastri all pitted on lap 12 and came out in sixth, eighth and ninth respectively as the latter managed to cover Russell whilst Leclerc has been called to box.
Leclerc came in on lap 13 as Sainz moves up into the lead having started on the harder compound with Norris following through in second.
Leclerc slots in fifth place behind Hamilton as Piastri with DRS assistance flew past Perez down the Kemmel Straight to jump into sixth place meanwhile a bit further back, Verstappen finally made his way ahead of Magnussen and Tsunoda to move into eighth place.
On the 14th tour Alonso stopped from third for his set of the C2 white-marked tyre and came out in 13th place.
On lap 15, the yet-to-pit Sainz was 3.5 seconds ahead of Norris, with Hamilton third, Leclerc fourth, Piastri fifth, Perez sixth, Russell seventh as Verstappen completed the top eight.
Norris pitted a tour later from second for his fresh set of the harder tyre and came out in eighth place behind Verstappen.
Meanwhile race leader Sainz suffered a snap of oversteer and dipped his left wheels into the gravel trap at Campus allowing the gap to drop a little to second-placed Hamilton.
On lap 18, the battle for fifth, sixth and seventh between Perez, Russell and Verstappen was continuing to intensify.
On the 20th lap, Sainz’s gap out-front to Hamilton was down to 2.5 seconds with Leclerc third, Piastri fourth, Perez fifth and Russell sixth in the order.
Sainz finally made his stop from the lead on lap 21 for his fresh set of the C3 yellow-marked mediums and came out in eighth behind Norris.
Russell with DRS range in the battle for fourth made his move on the Kemmel Straight down the inside to get in-front of Perez before reaching Les Combes.
On half race distance, Perez is told to box as Verstappen takes fifth place to chase down Russell.
Perez on his fresh set of the C2 hards, emerged in eighth place behind Sainz.
At the midway point, Hamilton’s lead over Leclerc was 2.056 seconds with Piastri a further 2.796 adrift in third, Russell fourth, Verstappen fifth, Norris right behind the Dutchman in sixth, Sainz seventh as Perez completed the top eight.
On the 23rd tour Norris had a close look on Verstappen down the Kemmel Straight with DRS assistance, but the latter covered the former into Les Combes.
A lap later, Norris was a bit further back from the Dutchman after running deep at the Chicane before the main-straight.
With 18 tours remaining, second-placed-Leclerc came in for his second fresh set of the C2 hards and came out in seventh place behind Ferrari team-mate Sainz as the Monegasque driver attempts the undercut on race leader Hamilton.
The Monegasque driver suffered a slow 3.4 second stop after a short delay putting on the rear left tyre.
A lap later, race leader Hamilton reacted to Leclerc’s stop and came in for a set of hards and with a 2.4 second stop emerged ahead of the Ferrari driver in sixth place, but behind the other SF-24 entry of Sainz.
Meanwhile on lap 29, Sainz was told to box from fifth as Verstappen also stopped and both the latter and former emerged in seventh and eighth on both the hards and mediums respectively.
Third-placed Norris was called in with 15 laps remaining for another set of the harder compound and came out in seventh place covering Sainz.
Perez also released Verstappen into fifth place as race leader Piastri comes in for his fresh set of the harder rubber and came out ahead of Verstappen, Perez and Norris.
Norris with DRS assistance flew past Perez down the Kemmel Straight to jump into sixth place.
Russell was asked by his team if he wanted to remain out and attempt a one-stop strategy to which he replied: “Yes.” As the Briton held a 6.03 second lead over Mercedes team-mate Hamilton.
In the fight for fifth Verstappen asked to his team: “Lando is pushing, tell me what you want to do?” As Giampiero Lambiase responded: “We are happy for you to push.”
With ten laps remaining Russell’s lead was at 5.743 seconds over Hamilton with Leclerc holding third, Piastri right in DRS range behind the Ferrari in fourth, Verstappen fifth as Norris was close to DRS range of the Dutchman in sixth.
In the battle for third, Piastri with DRS assistance had a look on the outside of Leclerc at the Kemmel Straight as the former covered the latter into Les Combes.
A tour later, Piastri is much closer to Leclerc and through the Eau Rouge and Raidillon complex with DRS assistance made a move around the outside of the Ferrari and got ahead into Les Combes and Malmedy to snatch third place.
The gap between Piastri and Hamilton was sitting at 5.382 seconds as race leader Russell’s gap to his Mercedes team-mate was at 2.850 seconds.
On lap 39 in the battle for seventh, Sainz with DRS assistance made a pass around the outside of Perez at Les Combes to jump into the position.
With five tours remaining, Russell’s lead to team-mate Hamilton was down to 1.223 seconds with Piastri a further 4.728 seconds in third, Leclerc fourth, Verstappen and Norris both right behind in fifth and sixth respectively.
On lap 41, Hamilton was in DRS range of his race leading team-mate and Peter Bonnington told the Briton that they were both “free-to-race.”
Hamilton’s tyres was 14 laps younger compared to team-mate Russell and with DRS assistance on the Kemmel Straight had a look on the other F1 W15 entry but could not find a way through.
On the penultimate lap both Russell and Hamilton ran deep into La Source as Piastri brought the gap down to 1.342 seconds.
The final lap saw Hamilton suffer a lock up into La Source and it brought Piastri into DRS range, Russell managed to have enough of a gap to keep his fellow-British compatriot Hamilton behind.
Russell had crossed the line to clinch the Belgian GP victory and lead home a Mercedes one-two finish 0.526 seconds over team-mate Hamilton as Piastri completed the top three before the disqualification was given to the former.
Hamilton thus took his 105th-career win and ahead of Piastri as Leclerc rounded out the top three.
Verstappen and Norris settled for fourth and fifth respectively.
Sainz took sixth as Perez came home seventh with the fastest lap bonus point.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished the Grand Prix eighth and ninth as RB’s Ricciardo completed the top ten.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll came 11th in the classification and Williams’ Albon placed 12th in the order.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was 13th and ahead of MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who took 14th and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas who crossed the line 15th.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and the other Haas VF-24 entry of Nico Hulkenberg finished at the rear.
2024 Belgian GP – The Top Three
1st Place – Sir Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W15 – 25 Points:
“No, we definitely didn’t [expect this] so first of all congratulations to George and to the team. We had such a disaster on Friday so made some changes and the car was fantastic today. I was trying to get closer, but George did a great job on going long on the tyres. Every stint I had tyres left but the team brought me in…”
2nd Place – Oscar Piastri, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 18 Points:
“Honestly yes, I thought I could [get the Mercedes] as clean air made such a difference today. Happy with the result, we managed the race very well, think that’s the second or third time this year we’ve tried to run over the front jack, so I’ll try and not do that again!”
3rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-24 – 15 Points:
Not Supplied.
Formula 1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix 2024 Race Results Classification (44 Laps)
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
| DQ | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 44 | 1:19:57.040 | 0 |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 44 | +0.526s | 25 |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 44 | +1.173s | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 44 | +8.549s | 15 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 44 | +9.226s | 12 |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 44 | +9.850s | 10 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 44 | +19.795s | 8 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 44 | +43.195s | 7 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 44 | +49.963s | 4 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 44 | +52.552s | 2 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | 44 | +54.926s | 1 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 44 | +63.011s | 0 |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 44 | +63.651s | 0 |
| 13 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 44 | +64.365s | 0 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 44 | +66.631s | 0 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 44 | +70.638s | 0 |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 44 | +76.737s | 0 |
| 17 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 44 | +86.057s | 0 |
| 18 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 44 | +88.833s | 0 |
| NC | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 5 | DNF | 0 |
|
Note – Russell disqualified for an underweight car. Perez scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. |
||||||
https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1242/belgium/race-result
Round 15 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns in four weeks following the traditional summer break from August 23-25 at the Circuit Zandvoort in Zandvoort, The Netherlands for the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024.
#F1 #BelgianGP Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen fastest, @CharlesLeclerc inherits pole.
@Max33Verstappen tops rain-affected FP3 session. #F1 #BelgianGP
#F1 #BelgianGP FP2: @LandoNorris heads @McLarenF1 one-two.
#F1 #BelgianGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen quickest ahead of @OscarPiastri by 0.531s.
