Revised F1 Belgian GP results: Hamilton inherits win after Russell DQ

Russell, who pulled off a majestic one-stop strategy to his rivals’ two-stoppers, was disqualified after post-race scrutineering as his car was found to be underweight.

Hamilton inherited his win, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also promoted.

2024 F1 Belgian Grand Prix results

2024 F1 Belgian Grand Prix report

Polesitter Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) led the charge to La Source from a fast-starting Hamilton and Sergio Perez (Red Bull). Russell challenged Piastri for fourth at Les Combes but had to straight-line the second element. McLaren’s Lando Norris made a hash of La Source, losing momentum on the exit and falling to seventh.

Verstappen, who had won the last three races here, started 11th after his 10-place grid penalty for an engine change. He passed Alex Albon’s Williams at the final chicane to take ninth at the end of the opening lap.

Norris passed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – who started on hard tyres, unlike the majority on mediums – at Les Combes for sixth on the second lap but had to give the place back after overshooting the first element. That allowed the charging Verstappen on to his tail.

Hamilton remained in DRS range of Leclerc, and he powered past to grab the lead at Les Combes on lap three.

Perez lost DRS on Leclerc, which allowed Piastri to challenge him for third. But the higher-than-expected temperatures meant drivers were more focused on tyre management in the early stages. Fifth-placed Russell ran wide the Bruxelles hairpin on lap eight but just managed to keep Sainz behind him.

Hamilton pulled 2s clear of Leclerc by lap nine, reporting his tyres were “OK” but losing grip on the rear axle.

Russell and Verstappen were the first of the leaders to pit at one-quarter distance on lap 10, as the majority shifted to the hard tyre for the middle stint. Verstappen got seriously balked by Yuki Tsunoda’s RB on his out-lap and had to battle his way past.

Hamilton, Perez and Piastri stopped the next time around, Hamilton just managing to rejoin before Piastri drove into his pitbox, which was positioned next door. Russell undercut ahead of Piastri but the Australian was able to DRS back past him into Les Combes. Perez got tucked up behind Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, which allowed Piastri right on to his tail again.

Leclerc pitted from the lead of a Ferrari 1-2 on lap 12, and rejoined ahead of the duelling Perez (who swapped to more mediums rather than hards) and Piastri, who grabbed the position from the Mexican at Les Combes.

Sainz, on his hards, ran long as did Norris, as McLaren tried an overcut to offset the track position he lost on the opening lap, instructing him to run at “100% pace”.

Norris stopped on lap 15 and rejoined eighth, having effectively lost a spot to Verstappen by not covering his early stop, and lost the best part of 5s to him as well. But he was able to unleash his true pace, and set a sequence of fastest laps.

Leader Sainz went off and ran through the gravel at Stavelot, costing him vital time on his alternate strategy.

Verstappen was given the OK from the pitwall to attack Russell, who was just clinging to Perez’s DRS range. But Max couldn’t make a move, and went back into conservation mode, as Norris cruised up behind him.

Sainz pitted from the lead for mediums on lap 20, rejoining in eighth. Hamilton inherited a 1.7s lead from Leclerc and Piastri. Moments later, Russell passed Perez for fourth.

Verstappen spent half a lap stuck behind Perez, who was yanked into the pits, allowing Norris to get within a second of him at half distance. But just as he got on to his tail, Norris blew the final chicane on lap 24, and fell out of DRS range.

Leclerc was 2s behind Hamilton when he made his second stop on lap 25 for an ambitious undercut attempt, but a slow left-rear change didn’t help his bid. Hamilton covered on the next lap, rejoining 2.5s ahead of Leclerc, while Russell – now up to second – contemplated going to the end on his hards.

Verstappen stopped again on lap 28, as did Sainz – who only ran eight laps on his mediums before going back for fresh hards. Norris pitted a lap later.

Now in clear air, Piastri set fastest lap just before his second stop on lap 30, but a terrible 4.4s stop was caused by him locking up and overshooting his pitbox.

Perez let Verstappen past with 14 laps remaining, and Norris DRS-ed past Perez a lap later.

With a dozen laps to go, Russell – who had clearly committed to a one-stop strategy – led a Mercedes 1-2 by 7s from a closing Hamilton, who was 2s clear of Leclerc and Piastri. Verstappen’s fifth place was coming under threat from Norris, who was told he could attack. Perez and Sainz rounded out the top eight.

Piastri attacked Leclerc at Les Combes on lap 35 and although he didn’t find a way past at his first attempt, he passed him around the outside at the second time of asking.

Russell led Hamilton by 3.7s at this point, while Piastri had a 5s gap to close to Lewis. Sainz drove around the outside of Perez for seventh with six laps to go.

Hamilton caught Russell with four laps remaining, with Piastri catching the Mercedes duo but 4s in arrears. Behind them, Verstappen got into Leclerc’s DRS range with Norris in tow.

Hamilton took several DRS runs at Russell along the Kemmel Straight but just didn’t have enough overspeed to fashion an opportunity.

The Mercedes pair started the last lap 0.6s apart, with Piastri a second in arrears. Hamilton locked up slightly at La Source and didn’t get a good enough run to DRS past. Hamilton locked up again at Bruxelles, which gave Russell all the breathing space he needed for a famous win on tyres he’d run for 34 laps.

Russell beat Hamilton by half a second, ahead of Piastri, Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Sainz and Perez.

But after the race, Russell’s car was found to be at the minimum 798kg weight limit when the FIA initially weighed the Briton’s car. After draining 2.8 litres from the fuel tank in order to take his one-litre fuel sample for scrutineering, it was found to be 1.5kg underweight.

2024 F1 Belgian Grand Prix fastest laps
 

2024 F1 Belgian Grand Prix tyre history