2024 F1 Round 14, Belgian Grand Prix: Russell disqualified after one-stop run to the flag, Hamilton inherits 105th career win

The Belgian Grand Prix, round 14 of the 2024 F1 season, began at Spa-Francorchamps at 21:00 on 28 July, China Standard Time (UTC+8), and was contested over 44 laps. Starting sixth, George Russell took a gamble on a one-stop strategy and crossed the line first. His car was subsequently found to be 1.5kg below the 798kg minimum weight and he was disqualified. Lewis Hamilton, who had started third, inherited his second victory of the season and the 105th of his career, while Oscar Piastri was promoted to second. RB driver Yuki Tsunoda ended the first half of the season in 16th.

The race had several twists. Hamilton took the lead on lap three and appeared to have matters under control. Russell, the first of the leading group to stop on lap 10, never returned to the pits, committing to the one-stop gamble. With the tyre advantage, Hamilton charged after his team-mate late in the race, closing to within a second with four laps remaining and bringing DRS into play. Russell held firm through precise tyre management. It initially appeared to be a perfect Mercedes one-two and his own second win of the season and third of his career.

“Nobody expected this victory at this morning’s strategy meeting,” an excited Russell said after taking the flag. “It’s the result of the whole team’s work. The strategists did an outstanding job.” Around 90 minutes after the finish, however, the technical delegate found that the No.63 W15 was below the minimum weight. Following an investigation lasting about an hour, the stewards disqualified Russell under Article 4.1 of the Technical Regulations, ending Mercedes’ apparent one-two.

Piastri crossed the line 1.173 seconds behind Russell and was promoted to second. The Australian’s pit stop had been imperfect: he overshot his stopping position, losing about 1.5 seconds. Without that mistake, the outcome might have been very different. Norris put a wheel onto the gravel at Turn 1 at the start and lost three places to seventh, then locked his front tyres at the final chicane. The error-prone Briton finished sixth on the road and was promoted to fifth. Starting 11th, Verstappen could not repeat his remarkable wins from the back half of the grid in the previous two years. He crossed the line fifth, 9.226 seconds behind the first finisher, and was promoted to fourth. Perez, who had started on the front row, could not convert that position into a result. After Sainz passed him with six laps remaining, he stopped for soft tyres with two laps to go and set the fastest lap, adding a bonus point to his eventual seventh place.

In the midfield, Alonso led a DRS train and took eighth. Ocon passed Ricciardo with three laps remaining to move into the position that would be ninth in the final classification; Russell’s disqualification promoted Ricciardo to 10th and the final point. Unlike his team-mate, who started on soft tyres, Tsunoda began on mediums from 20th and last. He passed Sargeant and Hulkenberg and finished the first half of the season in 16th. The only retirement was Zhou Guanyu: his Sauber lost power on lap three, briefly recovered its pace, then stopped running altogether as its brake hydraulic system failed. He pulled off on lap six. There was no Safety Car deployment or red flag during the race.

The race covered 44 laps, with the winner’s time recorded as 1h19m57.566s. The first half of the 2024 season is now complete and the drivers head into the summer break. The second half begins with the Dutch Grand Prix in late August.