Written by Owen Bradley
George Russell Won the Belgian Grand Prix after a well-fought race against his teammate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Russell took the alternate one-stop strategy to secure his second win of the 2024 season.
Charles Leclerc would maintain his lead off the start, with his future teammate Lewis Hamilton overtaking Sergio Perez for second.
Lando Norris would be forced wide, collecting some gravel on the exit of Turn 1 as Oscar Piastri got past his McLaren teammate and hounded the Red Bull of Perez for the podium places early on.
Elsewhere, Max Verstappen would immediately recover to eighth by the end of the first lap after starting from 11th, making his way past Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Guanyu Zhou would have a hydraulic issue, forced to retire on Lap 5.
Hamilton would fly past Leclerc on the kemmel straight on Lap 3, taking the lead of the race early on and almost immediately breaking the DRS (Drag Reduction System) Zone to Leclerc behind. Oscar Piastri was behind Perez, with George Russell and Carlos Sainz just behind them.
Lando Norris ran 7th with Verstappen in 8th still after the first 10 Laps. The leading eight were separated by less than 10 seconds, with Russell and Verstappen coming into the pits at the end of Lap 10, fitting the Hard tyres and looking to undercut the drivers in front, with incredibly tight margins.
Russell would manage to jump Piastri periodically, as the Australian would then come straight past the Mercedes driver at the end of the kemmel straight. Hamilton would maintain his lead, with Leclerc coming out just a second and a half from the 7-time World Champion after the first round of pit stops.
Piastri, just a lap later, would fly past the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, with DRS assistance for fourth place on the track, and net third place as Carlos Sainz stayed out long on his Hard compound tyres.
The majority of the field would run on the Hard tyres after the first stop, with Perez on the Mediums on the alternate strategy. The McLaren's both looked far quicker on the Hard tyres, with Norris catching Verstappen, Russell and Perez by around half a second per lap.
The Alpine's also looked fast on the Hard tyres, with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly making their way past the Haas cars of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, the French pair looking to battle their way inside the Top 10 at the halfway distance mark.
Perez would come into the pits after being overtaken by Russell, with Lando Norris hounding Max Verstappen just a couple of laps later. Perez would complain that Red Bull were "slow on the straights" as Verstappen would duel with Norris for fifth, Norris locking his McLaren's front right tyre up and going across the bus stop chicane.
Leclerc would be the first one to come in for his second stop, bolting on fresh Hard tyres to go to the end of the race. Hamilton would then come in to cover off the undercut from Leclerc, as Piastri stayed out and set purple sectors, extending his brief lead before needing to come in for his final stop.
Verstappen would get past Perez for fifth on Lap 30 at Pouhon due to Red Bull's team orders, as Perez would then be displaced by Lando Norris just a lap later. Norris went into sixth place, both McLaren's held rapid pace on the Hard tyres after their second stops, the pair of them taking multiple seconds out of the cars in front.
Piastri would close exceptionally quickly onto the back of Leclerc, taking about a second per lap out of the Monagasque and getting his McLaren within DRS range in the battle for second place.
Piastri would duel with Leclerc in the final 10 laps for third place, eventually overtaking Leclerc at Turn 6. The Australian would then begin closing down both Mercedes drivers, as Russell began losing a lot of grip.
With just 4 laps remaining, Russell and Hamilton would be separated by less than one second, the pair duelling one another as Piastri closed by about 1.2 seconds per lap.
On the final lap the leading trio would be separated by one second, with Hamilton having several lockups on the final lap, as Piastri also closed right onto the rear gearbox of the Mercedes drivers.
George Russell would come home to take his third Grand Prix victory of his career, with Hamilton bringing it home for a Mercedes 1-2. Piastri finished in third after a blistering final few laps, closing onto the Mercedes cars by about six seconds in five laps.
F1 now goes into the summer break, with Red Bull now not the favourites race-to-race. Mercedes have taken three wins over the last four races, with a Mercedes-powered McLaren of Oscar Piastri the other winner in Hungary.
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