© Getty Images2024 Belgian Grand Prix - Race ReportMax and Checo earn fourth and seventh, respectively, in a hard-fought Belgium Grand Prix after winner George Russell was disqualified
TherewasnoBelgiumboostforeitherMaxVerstappenorChecoPérezastheBullstraditionalSpachargefadedinahard-foughtracethatleftMaxfourthattheflagandChecodowninseventhplace,withbothdriversmovingupaplaceinthefinalorderafterone-stoppingracewinnerGeorgeRussellwasdisqualifiedafterhisMercedeswasfoundtobeunderweightfollowingpost-racechecks.LewisHamiltoninheritedthewin,witheveryonebehindmovingupaplace.
Watch:Checo'sRaceReaction
At the start of the race, Ferrari polesitter Charles Leclerc got away well to take the lead, but Checo’s getaway from the front row was slightly slower, and into La Source he was passed by Hamilton. Behind them, McLaren’s Lando Norris was forced wide, and after dipping a wheel onto the gravel at the exit of Turn 1, he was passed by teammate Oscar Piastri, Russell, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as they went into Eau Rouge.
Further back, from P11 on the grid, Max got away well, and after avoiding any trouble at La Source, the Dutchman launched his early charge. The champion surged past Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Alex Albon, and then on lap 2, he picked off Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to close in on Norris, who was now seventh.
On the next lap, with DRS now in play, Hamilton closed up to Leclerc through Eau Rouge, and on the long Kemmel straight, the Mercedes driver powered past the Ferrari to take the lead.
Checo, though, was on the radio reporting that he was unhappy with the battery deployment on his RB20. The Mexican was battling hard, however, and over the course of the opening stint he kept Piastri at bay to hold onto third place.
Diving Into Turn One© Getty Images
Behind him, with Max bottled up behind Norris, the team attempted the undercut, and on lap 10, the champion dived into the pits for a set of Hard tyres. With the trigger pulled on the first stops, the frontrunners began to stream into the pits, and after the tyre switches had played out, Hard-tyre starter Sainz rose to P1 ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc.
Checo, though, was disadvantaged following his stop when he came out behind the slower Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, and that allowed Piastri to close in. Checo got past Stroll when the Aston driver was called to the pits, but Piastri was too close, and on the run to Les Combes, aided by DRS, the Australian swept past Checo to take P4.
Norris was the last of the frontrunners to pit, five laps after Max, and when the McLaren driver rejoined on Hard tyres, Max was already blasting up the hill to Raidillon, gaining from the undercut. That meant that after the stops, Max was in seventh place, just on the cusp of DRS range of Russell and Checo.
The Mexican was still struggling for speed on the straights, and he was soon passed by Russell. That put the Mexican directly in the path of Max, and as the Bulls ran nose to tail, Norris, on fresher tyres, began to close in. The situation prompted the team to bring Checo in for a set of Hard tyres at the end of lap 20, and that freed Max to chase after Russell.
After Sainz had relinquished the lead to Hamilton following his long first stint, his teammate Leclerc sparked the final round of pit stops at the end of lap 25. And when tyre changes had played out, Russell, who had eschewed new rubber and was suddenly targeting a one-stop, led the race ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, with Piastri in fourth. Max was now in P5, under a second clear of Norris. Behind them, Checo settled into his second stint and was trying to hang on to seventh.
Keeping Lando At Bay© Getty Images
On lap 36, after one failed attempt at passing Leclerc, Piastri closed up to the Ferrari on the exit of La Source. Leclerc defended hard as the pair entered the braking zone for Les Combes, but Piastri hung on around the outside and then firmly shut the door on Leclerc as they exited the chicane to take third place.
On lap 39, Checo came under pressure from Sainz, and though the Mexican defended as best he could on ageing tyres, Sainz muscled his way past on the Kemmel straight to demote the Mexican to eighth.
Over the final five laps, all of the frontrunners closed in on Russell, but remarkably, the Mercedes driver was able to keep his fading Hard tyres alive to keep Hamilton and Piastri at bay, and at the end of the 44 laps, Russell took his third career win just half a second ahead of Hamilton, with Piastri a tenth further back in third.
Leclerc clung on to fourth at the flag, just six tenths ahead of a hard-charging Max, who finished another half second ahead of Norris. Sainz finished in seventh, and Checo ended the race in eighth. But, with more than half a minute in hand over Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the Mexican made a late stop for Soft tyres and banked an extra point with a fastest lap of 1:44.701 in the final laps.
After the race. Russell’s car was weighed and found to be at the minimum 798 kg weight limit. However, 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 1.5 kg underweight, and the matter was referred to the stewards, who subsequently disqualified the Briton from the result.
Hamilton thus inherited his 105th race win ahead of Piastri and Leclerc, with Max now classified fourth ahead of Norris and Sainz and with Checi in P7. Alonso and Ocon also moved up and placed, and the final point went to VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Slapping On Softs For The Fastest Lap© Getty Images
| Rank | Driver | Team | Gap | Points | | 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | – | 25 (+1) |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.526 | 18 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +1.173 | 15 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +8.549 | 12 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | +9.226 | 10 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +9.850 | 8 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +19.795 | 6 |
| 8 | Sergio Pérez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | +43.195 | 4 (+1) |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +49.963 | 2 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +52.552 | 1 |
