The Great F1 Comeback!

Hamilton started the Belgium Grand Prix from P3 but muscled his way past Sergio Perez’ Red Bull and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari by lap 3. The silver arrow and raging bull ran side-by-side through Raidillon giving fans what they always demanded, some close wheel-to-wheel action! 

Max Verstappen had claimed pole on Saturday but took a ten place grid penalty for changing power unit components. On race day however, Red Bull didn't seem to have an answer for the Mercedes and McLaren race pace.

Oscar Piastri flew past both Bulls and Ferraris after his pit stops. He seemed to be the fastest driver on track but it was Mercedes’ George Russell who at the time pulled off an inspired one-stop strategy to head home his fast charging teammate Hamilton at the flag!

No one could believe it, even Mercedes were initially surprised that the hard tyres on Russell’s car would last the entire race distance from lap 11.

It was a game-changing call as Mercedes’ lead race car was Hamilton’s W15. He was leading the race of two-stoppers which was basically everyone else! 

Eyeing a possible one-two finish, the consequences of taking a risky strategy against all pre-race simulations was parked aside for sure.

The podium looked perfect for Mercedes’ fairy-tale comeback-story midway through the season as they have cracked the code to emerge victorious three times already in the last four outings!

But at Parc Ferme where the cars and drivers are scrutinised post-race, Russell’s W15 was found to be under the minimum weight required by 1.5kgs. He was disqualified immediately, promoting Hamilton to P1 and Piastri and Leclerc to P2 and P3 respectively. The last time a race winner got disqualified was 30 years ago in 1994, at Spa coincidentally! Michael Schumacher’s Benetton had worn its skid blocks more than the allowed limit.

F1 is back after a 4 week break. The remaining episodes of Season 2024 guarantee a thriller as we’ve had an unpredictable mix of seven-different winners so far! At this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix will home hero Max Verstappen iron out the niggles of his championship-leading RB20 to get back to winning ways? Or will Mercedes continue their supreme Sunday form?

Can Lando Norris bounce back to the top step? There's only one way to find out. Tune in to Circuit Zandvoort on Sunday, it's bound to be another belter!

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Round 15 | Netherlands | Sunday, 25th August 18:30 | F1TV & FanCode App