Belgian GP: Russell and Hamilton pull off shock Mercedes 1-2

No one had expected Mercedes to take control of the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, but George Russell and Lewis Hamilton delivered a shock 1-2 for the team in a race that saw all top four teams very closely matched. Oscar Piastri joined the pair on the podium, with pole sitter Charles Leclerc waning in the closing laps and losing touch with the McLaren but just able to hold off Max Verstappen on his recovery bid from P11 on the grid. Verstappen in turn was able to thwart late attacks from Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, while Sergio Perez fell to P8 in a race that saw only one technical retirement for Zhou Guanyu, and no crashes or safety cars. 2024 Belgian Grand Prix - Race results After Saturday's rain hit final practice and qualifying, it was back to sunny spells at Spa-Francorchamps for the race, warm with a gentle breeze and no expectation of any more precipitation to complicate things for the teams and drivers as they headed to the grid, led by Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez. Max Verstappen had been fastest in qualifying but a ten place grid penalty for a new engine meant he would be starting from P11: could he still win regardless? When the lights went out to get the race underway, Leclerc converted pole into an early lead while Lewis Hamilton probed down the inside of La Source to pick off Perez, and Lando Norris went wide and troubled the gravel on the outside. costing him positions and promoting Oscar Piastri up to fourth ahead of George Russell and Carlos Sainz, who was the only driver in the top ten to start on hard tyres rather than mediums. Verstappen had already gained two places from Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon to rise into the top ten, with Fernando Alonso the next to fall to the Red Bull on lap 2 with Norris the next target in his sights. DRS was now enabled with Norris making an early attack on Sainz which he wasn't able to pull off. But Hamilton had more luck, pulling alongside Leclerc down the Kemmel Straight to take the lead on lap 3. Further back, Zhou Guanyu had been limping around after reporting a loss of power on his Sauber, and he became the first retirement of the afternoon on lap 6 with a hydraulic issue. With everyone circulating in DRS trains and minding their tyre degradation, the race entered a brief period of stasis with Hamilton extending his lead over Leclerc to over two seconds. The first scheduled stop was Nico Hulkenberg on lap 7, followed next time around by Daniel Ricciardo who alone had started on the soft compound albeit with little pay off, and then a double-stacking stop for Williams pair Albon and Logan Sargeant. Stuck behind Norris, Verstappen was called in for his service on lap 11 at the same time as George Russell. The Red Bull service wasn't one of the quickest and won't make its season show reel, and Verstappen fed back out in P14. Both Russell and Verstappen were quick to dispatch Tsunoda and Russell then acted decisively to take care of Kevin Magnussen who had opted to start on hard tyres. Hamilton, Perez and Piastri were all in on lap 12 briefly handing the lead to Leclerc who went a lap longer. Sainz now reaped the rewards of starting on hards to take command of the race ahead of Norris who was also yet to stop, followed by Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Perez, Russell and Verstappen. Norris extended to lap 16 and despite having a quiet pit lane all to himself he came back out just behind Verstappen in P8. Sainz and Magnussen were the only drivers yet to pit and by now even their initial sets of hard tyres were struggling. Sainz slid into the gravel as he maintained a four second lead over Hamilton. Magnussen pitted on lap 2 and Ferrari called in Sainz next time by, dropping him to P8 behind Norris. Verstappen had been unable to make a move on Russell and instead it was Russell who used DRS to blast past Perez down the Kemmel Straight. Perez was then conveniently boxed by Red Bull to free up Verstappen and allow him to give chase to the Mercedes, but he also had Norris on fresher tyres looming in his rear view mirror. Norris was pushing and overran the bus stop chicane on lap 24 for his pains. There was a second stop for Leclerc on lap 26for a new set of hards in an attempt to undercut Hamilton, but a slow service wasn't what he was hoping for. Hamilton reacted immediately on the next lap, and duly came back out just ahead of the Monegasque. That released Piastri at the front and the McLaren leapt away with the Aussie celebrating "clean air is king!" Sainz had not liked the mediums and was back in to the pits after just seven laps. Verstappen was also in for service and he was out in P7 - on the mediums. Would the Red Bull fare better on them than the Ferrari? Norris responded to Verstappen, opting for the hard compound and coming back out behind Verstappen. Piastri came in on lap 31 but locked up and overshot his pit box costing him significant time. Russell now inherited the lead over Hamilton and Leclerc and was happy to stay out on a one-stop gambit. Piastri was back out in fourth with Verstappen having been ushered past Perez for P5; Perez' job was to hold up Norris but that was a very brief and unequal battle. Russell was straining to make a one-stop pay off with Hamilton chasing him down; Leclerc was desperately fending off attacks from Piastri; and Verstappen was under threat from Norris while Perez was fighting for his seat at Red Bull against Sainz. Rarely have we seen such pitched battles among the top four. The storm broke with Piastri successfully making his move on Leclerc at Les Combes on lap 36. Russell's ageing tyres finally started to fail, but he kept in rolling regardless. Hamilton had his chances but ran out of time - or perhaps opted not to risk the Mercedes triumph. Piastri closed up but could find no way through and that was the order at the chequered flag, with Leclerc holding on to fourth from Verstappen, Norris and Sainz, with Perez eighth after making a late extra stop for softs to take the bonus point for fastest lap. The final points went to Fernando Alonso and Esteban Oconwith Daniel Ricciardo just missing out. Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter The post Belgian GP: Russell and Hamilton pull off shock Mercedes 1-2 appeared first on F1i.com.