George Russell led a Mercedes one-two with Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, using a daring one-stop strategy to stay ahead of his teammate and contribute to an exciting Formula 1 season.
Russell earned his second win of the season and the third of his career by expertly managing his tires during the 44-lap race, while all the other top drivers made two stops.
“Amazing result, definitely didn’t predict that this morning,” Russell said. “But the race was awesome and the tires just felt great. I just kept saying ‘I think we can do the one stop’.”
Hamilton finished in third place, behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Points leader Max Verstappen came in fifth, behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, after starting from 11th due to a 10-place grid penalty for using too many engines in his Red Bull.
Lando Norris had another poor start and finished sixth, allowing Verstappen to increase his championship lead to 78 points.
Russell was not expected to win as he started from sixth. However, he told his team he felt confident he could make his tires last and skip a second pit stop. This turned out to be a great choice.
Russell seemed at risk of being overtaken by Hamilton and other drivers with fresher tires. However, he managed to defend his lead during the tense final laps, with Piastri close behind in case the teammates collided.
“We definitely didn’t (expect this), so first of all, congratulations to George and to the team,” Hamilton said. “I was trying to get closer, but George did a great job of going long on the tires. Every stint I had tires left but the team brought me in, unfortunately.”
After the race, Russell celebrated with joy and his team praised him on the radio as “the tire whisperer.” The 26-year-old driver credited his team for making the strategy decision.
“It was a team effort, the strategists did a wonderful job. The car felt great and the pace was there. It’s so well deserved for everybody,” he said.
“Well done to Lewis, he did a great job controlling the race and if circumstances were different he could have won the race.”
After having a tough start to the season, Mercedes has now won three out of the last four races. Russell won in Austria and Hamilton won in Britain.
With McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari all having similar speeds and avoiding crashes that end races, the win came down to small details and getting the pit stops and tire strategies right.
Piastri finished less than two seconds behind Russell, and the top six drivers all finished within 10 seconds of each other.
With seven different winners in 13 races after the Hungarian GP, this season has become the most competitive since 2012. Verstappen has not won a race in the last four events after winning four of the first five grands prix this year.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished seventh, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, who had started in second but had another disappointing performance. Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin, and Esteban Ocon was 10th for Alpine.
The Spa track, located in the rolling forests of the Ardennes, is the longest in F1 at seven kilometers (4.3 miles). It stayed dry on Sunday, unlike the constant drizzle the day before that led to a postponement of an F2 race.
With 14 out of 24 races completed, the season will take a summer break until the Dutch GP on August 25.
