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The final result of one of the
best races of the past few years wasn’t decided until well after the
chequered flag had been waved. On track, it ended with a Mercedes one-two,
George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton, the pair joined on the podium by
Oscar Piastri. However, post-race scrutineering revealed that the number 63
car was underweight as per the technical regulations and therefore George
Russell was disqualified, the win going to his team-mate Hamilton, with
Piastri now second and Charles Leclerc moving up to the third step of the
podium. This is Hamilton’s 105th win from 346 Grand Prix starts, while it’s
win number 128 for Mercedes, its third this season and a seventh in the
Belgian Grand Prix.
THE DAY ON
TRACK:
On the grid, the vast majority of drivers had opted to start on the Medium.
The only exceptions were Sainz and Zhou who chose the Hard and Ricciardo who
preferred the Soft.
The two-stop was the most popular strategy, while the Hard was the compound
that performed best, both in terms of degradation and performance. Zhou was
the only driver to retire and of the remaining 19, five of them – in their
finishing order –Russell, Alonso, Stroll, Magnussen and Tsunoda, only pitted
once, going from the Medium to the Hard, with the first two of these
finishing in the points places, respectively first and ninth.
The prize for the longest stint goes to Russell who did 34 laps on the Hard,
while on his final stint, Hulkenberg went furthest (24 laps) on the Medium.
MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR
"First of all, let me say this was a really exciting race. It’s been quite a
while since Formula 1 has put on such a show and it’s unusual to see a race
where the outcome is so uncertain, with the top three within just over a
second of one another and the first six finishers, all of whom could
legitimately claim to have aimed for the win or at least the podium, all
finishing within under 10 seconds. It’s a shame the race result had to be
changed but, as even Mercedes agreed, the rule regarding weight is very
clear.
The second topic is strategy. Going into the race, we stated that a one-stop
was not fast enough compared to a two-stop, but leaving aside Russell’s
disqualification, his performance would disprove that theory. For a
preliminary explanation, at least in terms of tyre behaviour, there are some
factors that stand out. First of all, today’s track temperature was around
10 degrees higher than during FP2 and that probably contributed to very
limited graining on the Hard, which on the other hand was very significant
on the Mediums on a long stint. Furthermore, we can assume that the teams
worked hard on defining car set-up to find the best compromise between a wet
qualifying and a dry race and to try and protect the front axle, which was
most prone to graining. A third element to consider is that many drivers
made a point of looking after their Mediums very carefully, especially in
the quickest corners.
Two thirds of the race was a fascinating chess game, with moves and
countermoves, especially among the leaders, but also further down the field
and then it all came to life over the final 15 laps or so, with all the
drivers beginning to push and fight for track position. It was a show that,
as I said earlier, means we go into the summer break with a strong desire to
see something similar in a few weeks’ times in Zandvoort and indeed for the
rest of the season.”
FORMULA 2
Isack Hadjar (Campos Racing) won the Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps, his
fourth success of the season. To take the win, the championship leader had
to pass his main rivals for the title, starting with polesitter Paul Aron,
whose podium hopes evaporated on the last lap with a technical problem.
Second and third were Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta Racing) and Jak Crawford
(DAMS). Hadjar on 165 points, extends his lead over Bortoleto (129) who has
now moved ahead of Aron (124).
There was a 50-50 split on the grid, with 11 on the Soft tyre and the same
number on the Medium. The key factor was controlling tyre wear, aggravated
mainly by the newly resurfaced sections of the track that offered more grip
than in the past. Those who did the best job then reaped the benefit in the
closing stages.
FORMULA 3
Callum Voisin (Rodin Motorsport) took a maiden Formula 3 win in the Feature
Race, which was affected by numerous incidents and three Safety Cars.
Joining him on the podium were Sebastian Montoya (Campos Racing) and
Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident), the latter retaking the series lead. With just
the final round in Monza remaining, the Italian has 129 points, one more
than fellow countryman Gabriele Minì, out of the points today. Third is Luke
Browning (123 points), followed by Arvid Lindblad (113).
COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR TYRES
Pirelli still has work to do in Formula 1 this summer. The Spa-Francorchamps
circuit is hosting two days of testing aimed at 2025 tyre development. On
track on Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 31 July will be the Aston Martin and
Alpine teams, who will run Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Ocon respectively
on both days. On the job sheet, finalising the new constructions and
development of the hardest dry weather compounds in the range. If it happens
to rain, then the focus will switch to assessing new solutions for the
intermediate and extreme wet tyres.
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