George Russell made an unthinkable strategy work to win F1 Belgian GP in Mercedes 1-2 from Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri.
It was a clean start from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to lead F1 Belgian GP at a dry Spa-Francorchamps, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton made a good start to clear Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and slot into second, which he defended well on the Kemmel Straight.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri fended off Mercedes’ George Russell for fourth as teammate Lando Norris’ slight gravel moment dropped him to seventh behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The Brit tried a move at Les Combes, but had to give up and remain behind the Spaniard.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso initially won the battle to be eighth ahead of Williams’ Alexander Albon and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman cleared both of them in couple of laps to be up to eighth and slot behind F1 title rival Norris.
Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu, meanwhile, reported of loss of power but managed to continue on for couple of laps until the eventual retirement. At the front, Hamilton pressed Leclerc and once the DRS was available, he managed to pass to lead F1 Belgian GP.
Leclerc stayed on his tail, but Perez fell into the traps of Piastri. Behind them, Russell had a small wide moment but remained in fifth ahead of Sainz, Norris and Verstappen in close quarters, with Alonso at a distant in ninth from Albon in the Top 10.
The pit stop saga kick-started with Russell and Verstappen blinking first around Lap 11. The duo but remained behind the pack of Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri and Perez, though. It was the Brit with net lead over the Monegasque despite the later pit from Ferrari.
It was Piastri on the move as he passed Perez for net third on the road after the Mexican was held up by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Even Russell and Verstappen stayed on with Perez, as Norris dropped behind the Dutchman after his late stop.
Sainz went the furthest with an idea of one-stop against the two that others planned for. He started on the hard compound and wanted to switch to medium for his final stint. Albon was ninth after his stop with Alonso losing out to Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Once Sainz pitted after his minor gravel moment, Hamilton retook the F1 Belgian GP lead from Leclerc and Piastri, as Russell managed to clear Perez for fourth. The Mexican was then pulled in to give Verstappen a clear run in fifth, defending from Norris.
Sainz and Perez slotted in seventh and eighth, well ahead of the rest of the field. The second round of pit stop generated some surprise moments especially for the likes of Leclerc, Sainz and Norris, who all stopped after a relatively short middle stint.
It was Russell in the F1 Belgian GP lead after trying to undertake one-stop and go long. Teammate Hamilton was second in the order – with a supposed net lead – from Leclerc and Piastri, as Verstappen was fifth from Norris, who managed to clear Perez.
The Mexican also gave way to Verstappen before that. Sainz was eighth from Alonso, who remained ninth amid shuffles as Stake F1 Team’ Valtteri Bottas was 10th after electing to run long in his final stint along with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 11th.
It was Ricciardo, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Albon in the chase for the final point. At the front, Hamilton continued to claw into the lead of Russell but a crucial move was made by Piastri who passed Leclerc for third with Verstappen and Norris not far off behind.
But they were stuck in a DRS train which actually allowed Russell to continue his run at the front and eventually score a shock F1 win in Belgian GP, especially after running 34 laps on the hard compound against set numbers in an unthinkable strategy.
Hamilton ended up just 0.526s behind Russell in a Mercedes 1-2, with Piastri not far behind in third as the duo couldn’t charge enough to beat the Brit ahead. Leclerc was fourth in the end after pole start, as he managed to fend off Verstappen and Norris to the line.
Sainz passed Perez for seventh with the Mexican stopping to score the extra fastest lap point, as Alonso was ninth from Ocon who passed Ricciardo in the final stages to score a point. Stroll was 12th from a close Albon and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was 15th from Bottas, Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg to round out the 19 runners.
UPDATE: The FIA Technical Delegate has referred Russell’s race-winning Mercedes car to the stewards for weight disruption as it was found to be below the minimum weight required after draining of the fuel.
UPDATE 2:
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