The last Grand Prix before the four week summer break was the Belgian Grand Prix. This was an important race for the drivers as they knew that they will have to give it their all as they will have 4 weeks to rest. The championship table is also getting closer. Max Verstappen needed a big win. This race was 44 Laps.
Let’s look at the Belgian F1 Grand Prix Results
Belgian Grand Prix 2024 Race Standings
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Points |
DQ | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:19:57:040 | 0 |
1. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.526s | 25 |
2. | Oscar Piastri | McClaren | +1.173s | 18 |
3. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +8.549s | 15 |
4. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +9.226s | 12 |
5. | Lando Norris | McClaren | +9.850s | 10 |
6. | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +19.795s | 8 |
7. | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +43.195s | 7 |
8. | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +49.963s | 4 |
9. | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +52.552s | 2 |
10. | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | +54.926s | 1 |
11. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +63.011s | 0 |
12. | Alex Albon | Williams | +63.651s | 0 |
13. | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +64.395s | 0 |
14. | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +66.631s | 0 |
15. | Valteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | +70.638s | 0 |
16. | Yuki Tsonuda | RB | +76.737s | 0 |
17. | Logan Sargeant | Williams | +86.057s | 0 |
18. | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +88.833s | 0 |
19. | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber | DNF | 0 |
Key Facts from The Race
George Russell has been disqualified for an underweight car and that means Lewis Hamilton wins the Belgian Grand Prix for the 5th time.
Lewis Hamilton got his 11th podium finish at the Belgian Grand Prix.
It was the fourth Podium for Lewis Hamilton in the last 5 Grand Prix.
McClaren was on the podium for the 10th consecutive Grand Prix.
The next race is on 25th August in the Netherlands.
Race as it happened
Charles Leclerc has the lead of the race in the first lap. He is followed by Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri. Max Verstappen gets into a race with Lando Norris in the second lap of The race. At Lap 3 of the race it is Lewis Hamilton that has taken the lead of the race from Charles Leclerc. By Lap 6, Lewis Hamilton was 1.5 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. Zhou Guanyu had to retire from the race. By Lap 8, Nico Hulkenberg went to the pits and by Lap 10, Max Verstappen and George Russell pitted. On Lap 13, Oscar Piastri got past Sergio Perez to take P5. Lap 16 and Lando Norris finally pitted for hard tyres. Max Verstappen had reached P7 and he was racing George Russell. On Lap 21 it was Carlos Sainz who pitted and he was the last driver.
George Russell overtook Sergio Perez for P4 and Sergio Perez pitted 2 Laps later for hard tyres. Lewis Hamilton was leading by 1.8 seconds against Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were having a tight race but Lando Norris made a mistake across the bus stop chicane and Max Verstappen got ahead. At Lap 26, Charles Leclerc got into the pits for the second time but a 3.4 Seconds stop was not helpful. On Lap 29, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz pitted for the second time. Lando Norris pitted on Lap 31 but it was a slow stop of 4.4 seconds and he came out In P4. George Russell is in the lead of the race and he was looking like he will have a 1 Stop race. At Lap 33, there was a tight battle for P5 between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. And the 2 Mercedes drivers were racing for P1.
Lap 37 and George Russell was leading Lewis Hamilton by 3 seconds. Carlos Sainz took P7 from Sergio Perez who was having a horrible race. It was getting close between George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. It was the end of the race and George Russell won the Belgian Grand Prix but the drama was not over. It was found that George Russell has been disqualified for an underweight car and therefore Lewis Hamilton is the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix. The drivers now have a 4 week break and they will think about the season that has happened. Lewis Hamilton finished P2 and Oscar Piastri finished P3.
George Russell won a fantastic race at the Belgian Grand Prix. However after the race, a report of the Technical Delegate’s Report had found that the weight of George Russell’s car was below the desired weight. The matter was referred to the Stewards. After a review George Russell was disqualified from the race and Mercedes acknowledged a genuine error by the team. This was a rule which is Article 4.1 of Formula 1’s Technical Rules which requires a minimum mass of each car. The rule States that the mass of the car without fuel must not be less than 798 KG at all times.
After his disqualification, the standings were revised: Lewis Hamilton was declared the winner, with Oscar Piastri in 2nd place and Charles Leclerc in 3rd.
Max Verstappen is at the top of the World Championship Standings with 277 points. He is Followed by Lando Norris who is at 199 points. At number 3 is Charles Leclerc from 177 points. Oscar Piastri is at number 4 at 167 points and Carlos Sainz is at 162 points at number 5 in the drivers championship.
