Hamilton wins the 2024 F1 Belgian Grand Prix after Russell is disqualified.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-Benz AMG won the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Post-race weigh-ins showed that Russell's car weighed in at 796.5 kg (1,756 lbs.), 1.5 pounds (3.3 lbs.) below the minimum weight. Mercedes attributed this to a “genuine error.”
In the 14th race of the 2024 season, held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, McLaren's Oscar Piatri finished second, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in third.
Leclerc started the race from pole position and was joined at the front by Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez. The Ferraris got off to a good start, but Perez got bogged down and was soon overtaken by Hamilton. Reigning champion Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying, but received a 10-place grid demotion penalty for replacing his power unit and had to start the race from 11th on the grid.
Three laps later, Hamilton passed Leclerc for the lead with the help of DRS. Behind him, Perez was doing his best to hold off Piastri, and the drivers quickly pitted for the first of two scheduled tire changes. However, when Hamilton made his second pit stop on lap 26, with several drivers behind him, Russell took the plunge and stayed out.
Russell then did his best to manage his tires until the end of the 44-lap race. Lap after lap, Hamilton closed in on Russell, and with seven laps to go, Russell was about three seconds ahead of Hamilton, with Piastri and Leclerc not far behind. Despite Hamilton's threat, Russell kept his cool and crossed the finish line in first place. He was only 0.5 seconds behind Hamilton. Russell was later disqualified.
Further back, Piatri finished 0.5 seconds behind Hamilton and Leclerc about 8 seconds behind. Despite Verstappen's excellent pace, he was unable to catch the leaders and eventually crossed the finish line in fifth place.
Perez was unable to make the most of his front row start. After a battery problem was reported early in the race, Perez finished eighth, just behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in seventh.
After the weekend, Verstappen leads the 2024 drivers' championship with 277 points. Norris is second with 199 points and Leclerc is third with 177 points. Red Bull leads the Constructors' Championship with 408 points. McLaren is second with 366 points and Ferrari is third with 345 points.
The teams will take a summer break and return to action at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25.
2024 F1 Belgian GP Race Results:
DQ) George Russell (Mercedes-Benz AMG) 1) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Benz AMG) +0.526s 2) Oscar Piatri (McLaren) +1.173s 3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +8.549s 4) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) +9.226s 5) Lando Norris (McLaren) +9.850s 6) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +19.79s 7) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +43.195s 8) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +49.963s 9) Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +52.552s 10) Daniel Ricciardo (RB) +54.926s 11) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +63.011s 12) Alexander Albon (Williams) +63.651s 13) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +64.365s 14) Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +66.631s 15) Valtteri Bottas, Sauber, +70.638s 16) Hiroki Kakuda, RB +76.737 seconds 17) Logan Sargeant, Williams +86.057s 18) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas +88.833s NC) Guan Yu Zhou, Sauber - DNF [23].
