F1 Belgian GP results: Russell pips Hamilton in Mercedes 1-2

Russell, who pulled off a majestic one-stop strategy to his rivals’ two-stoppers, beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

2024 F1 Belgian Grand Prix results

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Laps	Time
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	44	-
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	44	-0.526
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren/Mercedes	44	-1.173
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	44	-8.549
5	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	44	-9.226
6	4	Lando Norris	McLaren/Mercedes	44	-9.850
7	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	44	-19.795
8	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	44	-43.195
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin/Mercedes	44	-49.963
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine/Renault	44	-52.552
11	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB/Honda RBPT	44	-54.926
12	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin/Mercedes	44	-
13	23	Alexander Albon	Williams/Mercedes	44	-
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine/Renault	44	-
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas/Ferrari	44	-
16	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber/Ferrari	44	-
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB/Honda RBPT	44	-
18	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams/Mercedes	44	-
19	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas/Ferrari	44	-
-	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber/Ferrari	5	-

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. 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 at the Bruxelles hairpin on lap eight but just managed to keep Sainz behind him.

Hamilton pulled 2s clear of Leclerc by lap 10, 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 11, 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 13, 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 16 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 21, 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 26 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 29, 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 31, 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 second place. 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.

2024 F1 Belgian Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Time	Delay	Lap
1	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'44.701		240.822
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren/Mercedes	1'45.563	0.862	238.856
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren/Mercedes	1'45.840	1.139	238.231
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'46.128	1.427	237.584
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'46.364	1.663	237.057
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'46.653	1.952	236.415
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine/Renault	1'46.957	2.256	235.743
8	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'47.013	2.312	235.619
9	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber/Ferrari	1'47.019	2.318	235.606
10	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1'47.113	2.412	235.399
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine/Renault	1'47.418	2.717	234.731
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB/Honda RBPT	1'47.435	2.734	234.694
13	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams/Mercedes	1'47.490	2.789	234.574
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas/Ferrari	1'47.848	3.147	233.795
15	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB/Honda RBPT	1'47.969	3.268	233.533
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams/Mercedes	1'47.996	3.295	233.475
17	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'48.051	3.350	233.356
18	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'48.105	3.404	233.239
19	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas/Ferrari	1'48.954	4.253	231.422
20	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber/Ferrari	1'52.099	7.398	224.929