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Hamilton’s mojo back as Red Bull wobbles in Belgium

Yolande Du Preez|Published

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton celebrates on the podium after finishing second in the Belgian Grand Prix. He was later promoted to first after teammate Geoge Russell was disqualified. Picture: REUTERS, Leonhard Foeger

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are back as a race-winning force, Max Verstappen and Red Bull face a fight to keep their titles and Fernando Alonso, while ageing, is not finished yet.

Even as George Russell was disqualified for a technical breach after winning, there was no hiding the obvious outcomes of a tense, intriguing and ultimately thrilling Belgian Grand Prix. Here, we look at three things we learnt from Sunday’s drama at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

Hamilton gets mojo back

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton emerged from a two-and-a-half-year hiatus when he won the British Grand Prix, and has since added a podium in Hungary and Sunday’s gifted win.

It confirms he is back and close to his best – He made a superb start, stormed into the lead and controlled the race before Russell’s ill-fated one-stop strategy put him ahead – and in a car that is better than he ever believed possible when he decided to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari next year.

The team may have lost an emphatic one-two triumph when Russell’s car was found to be 1.5 kg under-weight in post-race scrutiny, but for Hamilton it brought a 105th career win exactly 11 years after the first of his Mercedes victories in 2013. As investigations began into the reason for Mercedes’ error, it was clear that Russell will also be involved in a title scrap likely to include up to seven drivers.

His ‘heartbreaking’ loss of Sunday’s win with a one-stop strategy from sixth on the grid was most likely due to his bold ‘gut instinct’ decision to switch from a two-stop on lap 26, thus finishing the race on very worn tyres that weighed significantly less than fresher ones.

Max’s damage limitation

Russell’s post-race disqualification was a boost for Max Verstappen as he was elevated to fourth ahead of Norris, who once again threw away a chance to reduce the champion’s lead that now stands at 78 points.

Verstappen had started 11th after taking a grid penalty and used an under-cut to beat his main title rival. It was “damage limitation”, he said. But with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finishing seventh, after starting second, and Oscar Piastri second, McLaren have closed to 366 points, 82 behind Red Bull’s 408 in the constructors’ championship.

As the teams take a three-week holiday before the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23, Red Bull have a decision to make on the future of Perez, without a win this year and struggling.

Alonso ages in style

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, like his old teammate and foe Lewis Hamilton, continued to demonstrate how to age in style by steering his Aston Martin to eight – the best of the rest behind the “big four” teams.

It was his 43rd birthday on Monday, yet he showed raw enthusiasm, commitment and a competitive spirit to more than match many of his rivals 23 years after his F1 debut.

He has entered 395 races, started 392, won 32, had 20 different teammates and taken 22 pole positions. His last win came with Ferrari at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, but he shows no sign of defeat.

AFP

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