George Russell wins Belgian GP but is disqualified

This Sunday (28), the Spa-Francorchamps stage took place in Belgium for Formula 1, the 14th race of the season. With an excellent strategy, with only one stop, George Russell ended up winning the race, followed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri, who completed the podium. After the race, however, Russell was disqualified, giving the victory to Hamilton.

About the race

The race began with Lewis Hamilton dominating, who managed to overtake the Monegasque Charles Leclerc in the first few laps, who started in first place and took control of the race until the first pit stop, when Carlos Sainz, who decided to stay on the track a little longer than the other drivers, took the lead until lap 21.

Once everyone had made their first pit stop, Lewis was back in the lead, still trailed by Leclerc, who was unable to keep up with the British driver. On lap 26, the second pit stop was made by both the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers, with Hamilton remaining in the lead. Piastri, Norris, Perez and Verstappen also changed tires again in the following laps, allowing George Russell to take the lead.

The Mercedes driver then decided to go all the way with just one stop, surprising everyone with his strategy and remaining in the lead until the end of the race. Charles Leclerc, who was unable to maintain the pace, was overtaken by Oscar Piastri on lap 36, losing third place to the Australian driver. Meanwhile, Hamilton was doing everything he could to gain a lead over his teammate.

LAP 36/44

That's a mega move from Piastri The Aussie gets past Leclerc through Les Combes and is up to P3!

He can't catch the two Mercedes? Can he?! #F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/TZPCGomKsv

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2024

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_{Piastri overtaking Leclerc (Reproduction/X/@F1)}

With newer tires, Lewis Hamilton managed to catch George Russell in the final laps, leaving a gap of half a second. However, he was unable to find the right spot to overtake and ended up finishing in second place. Piastri finished third and Leclerc fourth. Verstappen and Norris, who were constantly fighting against each other, finished fifth and sixth with Carlos Sainz in seventh.

The punishment

After the awards ceremony and the podium were consolidated, the FIA ​​(International Automobile Federation) opened an investigation against the winner of the race. The Mercedes car reached the end of the race weighing 796.5 kg, slightly less than the permitted weight by the competition rules, which is 798 kg, thus resulting in the driver's disqualification.

With the penalty, Mercedes finished with 25 points, won by Lewis Hamilton. McLaren did better with 28 (18 from Piastri and 10 from Norris). Ferrari got 23 (15 from Leclerc and 8 from Sainz), while Red Bull added 19 points (12 from Verstappen and 7 from Sergio Perez).

Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers' world championship with 277 points, followed by McLaren's Lando Norris with 199 points and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with 177 points. In the constructors' world championship, Red Bull also leads with 408 points, followed by McLaren with 366 points and Ferrari with 345 points.

Featured Photo: George Russell's car during the Belgian GP (Reproduction/Dursun Aydemir/Getty Image)