Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton gestures as he arrives for the rostrum ceremony after the System One Belgian Grand Prix on the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Spa on July 28, 2024. (Picture by JOHN THYS / AFP)
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are again as a race-winning power, Max Verstappen and Crimson Bull face a battle to maintain their titles and Fernando Alonso could also be getting older, however he isn’t completed but.
Whilst George Russell was disqualified for a technical breach after successful, there was no hiding the plain outcomes of a tense, intriguing and finally thrilling Belgian Grand Prix.
AFP Sport appears at three issues we discovered from Sunday’s drama on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit:
Lewis Hamilton will get mojo again
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton emerged from a two-and-a-half-year hiatus when he gained the British Grand Prix and has since added a podium in Hungary and Sunday’s gifted win.
It confirms he’s again and near his finest – he made an excellent begin, stormed into the lead and managed the race earlier than Russell’s ill-fated one-stop technique put him forward — and in a automotive that’s higher than he ever believed potential when he determined to go away Mercedes and be a part of Ferrari subsequent 12 months.
The crew might have misplaced an emphatic one-two triumph when Russell’s automotive was discovered to be 1.5 kg under-weight in post-race scrutiny however for Hamilton it introduced a a hundred and fifth profession win precisely 11 years after he recorded the primary of his Mercedes victories in 2013.
As investigations started into the rationale for Mercedes’ uncommon error, it was clear that Russell can be concerned too in a titles scrap prone to embrace as much as seven drivers.
His ‘heartbreaking’ lack of Sunday’s win with a one-stop technique from sixth on the grid was most certainly attributable to his daring ‘intestine intuition’ resolution to change from a two-stop on lap 26, thus ending the race on very worn tyres that weighed considerably lower than more energizing ones.
Verstappen’s injury limitation
Russell’s post-race disqualification was a lift for Max Verstappen as he was elevated to fourth forward of Norris, who as soon as once more threw away an opportunity to scale back the champion’s now 78-point lead.
Verstappen had began eleventh after taking a grid penalty and used an under-cut to beat his most important title rival. It was ‘injury limitation’, he mentioned.
However with Crimson Bull team-mate Sergio Perez ending seventh, after beginning second, and Oscar Piastri second, McLaren has closed to 366 factors, 82 behind Crimson Bull’s 408 within the constructors’ championship.
Because the groups break up for a three-week vacation earlier than the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23, Crimson Bull has a call to tackle the way forward for Perez, and not using a win this 12 months and struggling.
Reserve driver Liam Lawson and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, promoted to tenth on Sunday, are in rivalry to step in if the Mexican is launched from his duties. A check at Imola this week might determine.
Alonso ages in model
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, like his outdated team-mate and foe Lewis Hamilton, continued to show the way to age in model by steering his Aston Martin to eight – the most effective of the remainder behind the ‘large 4’ groups.
It was his forty third birthday on Monday but he confirmed uncooked enthusiasm, dedication and a aggressive spirit to greater than match lots of his rivals 23 years after making his F1 debut. He has entered 395 races, began 392, gained 32, had 20 completely different team-mates and brought 22 pole positions.
His final win got here with Ferrari on the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, however he confirmed no signal of defeat.
