The one person who didn’t appear at the top of the Bookies winners’ list for the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix was George Russell. Russell had an under-the-radar weekend leading up to the race. He qualified 6th, behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who secured 3rd. Charles Leclerc started the race on pole, ahead of Sergio Pérez. Max Verstappen qualified in pole position but received a 10-place grid penalty for using a new engine.
Meanwhile, the resurgent McLarens seemed to find a temporary performance dead end. Qualifying took place in changeable weather, and the McLarens ended up in 4th and 5th positions. With Verstappen out of contention, Leclerc appeared to be the favourite for victory, with McLaren expected to outpace the Mercedes and become the sole challenger to Ferrari. However, that challenge never materialized.
A feisty wheel-to-wheel battle on the opening lap saw Hamilton demote Pérez to 3rd. A few laps later, Hamilton swept by Leclerc on the high-speed Kemmel Straight to take the lead. This wasn’t part of the playbook. Indeed, the Mercedes W15 proved to be very competitive in race trim, and as the race progressed, Hamilton built up a small but comfortable lead over Leclerc. But the Ferrari would eventually fade from contention.
Meanwhile, Norris fell down the order on the opening lap and spent most of the race stuck in a DRS train. Verstappen also struggled, finishing only 5th—a clear sign that Red Bull’s ultra-dominance is over. The race came down to who could make the fewest pit stops. Russell opted for one pit stop and spent what seemed like an eternity on his final choice of hard compound tyres.
With six laps remaining, Hamilton found himself in 2nd, about 5 seconds behind Russell. On fresher tyres, Hamilton began to reel in the leader. Russell’s extremely worn tyres just managed to maintain the gap, allowing him to secure victory. Hamilton closed to within 0.5 seconds as the pair crossed the finish line, resulting in an unexpected victory for Russell and an unexpected 1-2 finish for Mercedes.
Oscar Piastri rounded off the podium, just six-tenths of a second behind Hamilton. For Russell, it was a close call—he was nowhere for most of the race. Indeed, Hamilton had controlled the race and was the favourite to win, but Russell outflanked his rivals to achieve an unexpected but well-earned victory.
Russell Disqualified
However, as this article was being written, news broke that Russell had been sensationally disqualified from the race. Mandatory post-race checks by the FIA revealed that his car fell below the 798 kg minimum weight threshold, thereby handing victory to Lewis Hamilton.
2024 Belgian Grand Prix: Race Results
1 George RUSSELL
2 Lewis HAMILTON +0.526
3 Oscar PIASTRI +1.173
4 Charles LECLERC +8.549
5 Max VERSTAPPEN +9.226
6 Lando NORRIS +9.850
7 Carlos SAINZ +19.795
8 Sergio PEREZ +43.195
9 Fernando ALONSO +49.963
10 Esteban OCON +52.552
11 Daniel RICCIARDO +54.926
12 Lance STROLL +63.011
13 Alexander ALBON +63.651
14 Pierre GASLY +64.365
15 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +66.631
16 Valtteri BOTTAS +70.638
17 Yuki TSUNODA +76.737
18 Logan SARGEANT +86.057
19 Nico HULKENBERG +88.833
Did not finish
Zhou Guanyu Sauber – lap 6 – hydraulics