STAVELOT, Belgium – Seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton said the second half of the Formula 1 season will be “exciting” after he won the Belgian Grand Prix following the disqualification of his Mercedes teammate, George Russell for an underweight car.
Photo credit: FiledIMAGE / Shutterstock.comThe 39-year-old British race card driver had engaged in a thrilling late chase of Russell, but he was unable to pass his fellow Briton on track for the victory, with McLaren driver, Oscar Piastri of Australia finishing third at the Spa Francorchamps circuit.
After the race, a technical delegate’s report stated that Russell’s car was underweight and the matter was referred to the stewards, and he was subsequently disqualified and Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff acknowledged a “genuine error” was made by the team.
It is the second win of the season for Hamilton after his success on home soil in the British Grand Prix earlier this month at Silverstone, and the 105th of his F1 career.
“We had such a disaster on Friday,” Hamilton told reporters after the race. “The car was really nowhere, and we made some changes.
“It was hard to see what it was going to feel like, obviously, because of the wet day [on Saturday], but the car was fantastic, and we really owe it to everyone, both here, doing a solid job through the pit stops and strategy, and the guys back at the factory.”
F1 will now embark on its traditional summer break before returning for the Dutch Grand Prix from August 23 to 25, but Hamilton ruled out the chances of Mercedes trying to win either the drivers’ or constructors’ titles.
“It would be high hopes,” he said. “But, I mean, if we can continue this kind of performance as we’ve had the last few races, which has been fantastic, I think if we can start our weekends off a little bit better, hopefully we can continue to get good results.
“I think, obviously, the McLaren was very strong, but we were just a bit further ahead early on, but we’ve just got to keep pushing.”
Hamilton said the two wins for Mercedes, and the progress of other teams other than the Red Bulls had enlivened the season and he was looking forward to the remaining races.
“It’s really fantastic, I think, for the sport to be having such close teams and drivers,” he said. “And, you know, the pedigree of drivers at the top today are really elite and amazing.
“We didn’t expect to be competing with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this point in the season, with how we started off, so for us to now have closed up and be [competitive], it’s going to be [an exciting] second half of the season for sure.”
On the track, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco made a good start from pole position to initially lead before being overtaken by his soon-to-be Ferrari teammate Hamilton within two laps.
From there, Hamilton looked strong at a track where he has previously won four times.
While most of the field opted for a two-stop race, Russell gambled and made only one visit to the pits on the 10th lap of 44 and that meant he had to nurse his aging hard tyres when the race entered its final stages.
Hamilton closed right onto the back of his teammate in the last laps and, despite getting agonisingly close, he was unable to find a way past Russell, who crossed the line only half-second ahead before his disqualification took away his third Grand Prix win.
Behind the Mercedes pair, Piastri worked his way forward to claim third for McLaren, which is now second, while Leclerc will move up to third in the Ferrari.
Three-time defending world champion, Max Verstappen of the Netherlands bounced back from his 11th place on the starting grid to put his Red Bull into fifth place on the road, and now fourth in the results.
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Great Britain had to settle for fifth on what looked to be a tough day at times, and his former teammate Carlos Sainz of Spain claimed sixth for Ferrari.
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez of Mexico finished seventh after being overtaken by Sainz in the later stages amid continuing pressure around his place in the team.
Fernando Alonso of Spain took eighth for Aston Martin with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon of France and RB driver Daniel Ricciardo of Australia rounded out the top 10.
