Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton gestures as he arrives for the rostrum ceremony after the Method 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 drive, Max Verstappen and Purple Bull face a struggle to maintain their titles and Fernando Alonso could also be growing old, however he’s not completed but.
At the same time as George Russell was disqualified for a technical breach after profitable, there was no hiding the plain outcomes of a tense, intriguing and finally thrilling Belgian Grand Prix.
AFP Sport seems 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 received 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 attainable when he determined to depart Mercedes and be part of Ferrari subsequent yr.
The staff could 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 one hundred and fifth profession win precisely 11 years after he recorded the primary of his Mercedes victories in 2013.
As investigations started into the explanation for Mercedes’ uncommon error, it was clear that Russell shall 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 almost definitely on account of his daring ‘intestine intuition’ determination to modify from a two-stop on lap 26, thus ending the race on very worn tyres that weighed considerably lower than brisker ones.
Verstappen’s harm 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 cut 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 primary title rival. It was ‘harm limitation’, he stated.
However with Purple Bull team-mate Sergio Perez ending seventh, after beginning second, and Oscar Piastri second, McLaren has closed to 366 factors, 82 behind Purple 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, Purple Bull has a choice to tackle the way forward for Perez, with out a win this yr 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 take a look at at Imola this week could determine.
Alonso ages in type
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, like his previous team-mate and foe Lewis Hamilton, continued to show the best way to age in type by steering his Aston Martin to eight – the very best 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 a lot of his rivals 23 years after making his F1 debut. He has entered 395 races, began 392, received 32, had 20 completely different team-mates and brought 22 pole positions.
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His final win got here with Ferrari on the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, however he confirmed no signal of defeat.
