Here is our full text transcript from the 14th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Belgian Grand Prix:
Here we go. One more race day before the summer break and this could be another cracker. The sun is shining on Spa-Francorchamps, we have a mixed up grid, what’s not to love? A combination of bad weather and a grid penalty for Max Verstappen has shuffled the grid for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, leaving it unclear as to who is the favourite for victory in Spa.
Verstappen was very clearly the fastest driver in Saturday’s wet conditions as he comfortably topped qualifying, but will start from 11th as he serves a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his engine allowance for the season.
In Friday’s dry running, McLaren looked well set to profit from Verstappen’s penalty as Lando Norris topped second practice from team-mate Oscar Piastri, but F1’s in-form squad were far less comfortable in the wet.
Norris ultimately salvaged fifth, a place ahead of Piastri, leaving the McLarens to start fourth and fifth on the grid after gaining a position for Verstappen’s demotion. That leaves a top three on the grid of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. The fact that Spa is one of the F1 calendar’s easiest tracks to overtake on means that starting positions are less important than at other circuits, but it remains to be seen just how easily Verstappen and the McLarens will be able to come through the field.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur ahead of the start of the race: “It’s only on Sunday you score points! If you look in Budapest, McLaren won by 20 seconds which was less than two tenths per lap. It’s been like this the last 10 races. We have to be efficient – win when we have the best car and score points when we don’t.”
Tyres and strategy will be CRUCIAL today. Interestingly, Red Bull are the only front-running team to save just one set of the hard tyres. With the hot temperatures, the hard tyre might be the best compound, and the talk in the paddock is Red Bull could be on the backfoot here. Conversely, the Mercedes, Ferraris and McLarens all have two sets of hards and one medium (apart from Charles Leclerc who has two mediums).
Despite the resurfaced track, there is still high tyre degradation due to the high-speed corners at Spa-Francorchamps. We don’t expect to see the soft tyres as that was graining a lot on Friday, when it was cooler then too. A combination of the mediums and hards is the way to go. The undercut will be very powerful, just like Hungary. The majority of the field are starting on the medium tyre, with only three exceptions. Carlos Sainz in P7 is on the hard, as is Zhou Guanyi in P19. Daniel Ricciardo, starting from P13, is on the soft.
Lap 1/44: Charles Leclerc gets away well, as does Lewis Hamilton, who jumps Sergio Perez for second. Sergio Perez tries to come back on the run to Turn 5, but Hamilton uses all of his experience to keep the position. Lewis Hamilton did Charles Leclerc a big favour there by preventing Sergio Perez from having the chance to challenge the Ferrari.
Lap 2/44: Lando Norris just got past Carlos Sainz for P6 but ran wide immediately after and had to give the place back. That’s left him with Max Verstappen right on his tail! As that move happened, Max Verstappen overtakes Fernando Alonso on the Kemmel Straight and is already directly behind his main championship rival.
Lap 3/44: Lewis Hamilton is in the lead! With DRS enabled, the seven-time world champion eases past Charles Leclerc on the run up to Turn 5. Has the Mercedes come to life on race day?
Lap 3/44: The Sauber of Zhou Guanyu is moving very slowly, with the Chinese driver reporting that he’s lost power. He’s trying to make it back to the pits.
Lap 4/44: Hamilton leads the way from CHarles Leclerc and everyone has DRS down to Verstappen in eighth, apart from the race leader. This is fascinating.
Lap 4/44: Sauber have somehow managed to fix that Zhou issue. He never came into the pits and is back up to speed, but is now more than a minute back from Logan Sargeant ahead of him. He could certainly do with a Safety Car.
Lap 6/44: Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of breaking free from Charles Leclerc. The gap between them is hovering around a second. If Hamilton can get clearly out of DRS range, he may be able to open a little bit of a gap. Sergio Perez has fallen almost two seconds back from Charles Leclerc and is under pressure from Oscar Piastri. It’s perhaps becoming a little bit more difficult to follow as the stint goes on.
Lap 8/44: Nico Hulkenberg is the first driver to make a pit stop as he puts on the hard tyres. Carlos Sainz in sixth place, who started on the hards, is looking good, so you have to say the hard is the tyre to be on today. Remember, Red Bull only have one set of the hards when the other leaders have two sets.
Lap 10/44: We have our first stops from the leaders. George Russell comes in from P5 and Max Verstappen from P8. They emerge in 13th and 14th, respectively. Russell comes out behind Yuki Tsunoda but almost immediately passes the RB for P12.
Lap 11/44: Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri switch to the hard tyres. Russell jumps Piastri and is behind Perez!
Lap 12/44: Charles Leclerc pits from the lead and comes out in second place, ahead of a train led by Sergio Perez…
Lap 13/44: Oscar Piastri is flying! The McLaren seems to have come to life on the hard compound and Piastri eases past in Sergio Perez in the DRS zone.
Lap 14/44: Carlos Sainz leads Lando Norris by three seconds. They are both yet to pit but Sainz is on the hards and Norris is on the mediums. Lewis Hamilton is the first driver who hasn’t pitted, with Charles Leclerc 1.6 seconds behind.
Lap 14/44: Lewis Hamilton’s lead over Charles Leclerc is about where it was before the stops, just above 1.5 seconds. Oscar Piastri is a further couple of seconds back from Leclerc. Behind them, George Russell is in a Red Bull sandwich, with Sergio Perez ahead of him and Max Verstappen behind.
Lap 15/44: Norris finally comes into the pits for a set of hard tyres. He’s six seconds behind seventh-placed Verstappen but with fresher rubber. Carlos Sainz is the only driver yet to pit now.
Lap 16/44: Carlos Sainz makes a small mistake at Turn 15 and goes into the gravel. That’s cost him a couple of seconds.
Lap 16/44: It’s not been a great afternoon thus far for Sergio Perez. He’s lost three places on the opening stint and is now causing Red Bull a further headache. He can’t break free from George Russell, which is giving the Mercedes driver the DRS help he needs to stay ahead of Perez’s team-mate Max Verstappen behind him.
Lap 18/44: Charles Leclerc is keeping up with Hamilton here. The pair are matching each other, with Piastri three seconds behind the Ferrari driver.
Lap 19/44: Carlos Sainz is really making his hard tyres last out there. “Let’s wait a couple more laps,” he tells his engineer over the radio as they discuss their options from here.
Is a one-stopper coming into play? His lead over Lewis Hamilton is down to 3.5 seconds.
Lap 21/44: Carlos Sainz comes in at the end of lap 20, a fine effort on those hard tyres. He comes out four seconds back from Lando Norris in P8. George Russell finally gets by Sergio Perez on the Kemmel Straight and now the Mexican is holding up his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen!
Lap 22/44: It looked like Max Verstappen was about to pass his team-mate, but he doesn’t need to. Perez comes in for his second stop at the end of lap 21. It remains to be seen whether those will take him to the end. Verstappen still lost a lot of time behind Perez on that lap, so Norris is now within one second of the championship leader in the battle for fifth.
Lap 24/44: Norris locks up going into the final chicane, cuts it but loses time so can’t make a move on Verstappen again. These small mistakes are hurting Norris today.
Lap 25/44: That’s an early final stop for Charles Leclerc. Ferrari are going for the undercut. It’s a 3.4-second pit stop for Charles Leclerc, which is not that quick. He’s on another set of hards but that slow stop might cost him against Hamilton.
Lap 26/44: Mercedes decide to cover off Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton is in and it’s a very solid 2.4s stop, which gains him a second on Charles Leclerc. Hamilton comes back out comfortably ahead of Charles Leclerc, but running in P6 overall.
Lap 28/44: Max Verstappen comes in, and is back onto the medium tyre. Verstappen comes out a couple of seconds behind his team-mate Sergio Perez. That stop should enable to undercut George Russell.
Lap 29/44: And Carlos Sainz comes into the pits, so Hamilton is free to push on with Leclerc two seconds behind.
Lap 29/44: It’s now Lando Norris’ turn to stop. He emerges from the pit lane just behind the Red Bulls but comfortably ahead of Carlos Sainz. Norris will now have to try to pass Max Verstappen again.
Lap 30/44: Oscar Piastri comes in to stop and goes long on his pit box, which causes a very slow 4.4s stop. Thankfully for him, he remains clear of the Red Bulls as he comes out the pits. That will dent any hopes he had of chasing down Hamilton and Leclerc ahead of him.
Lap 31/44: Norris cruises past Perez and is into sixth place. Can he catch and overtake Verstappen, who’s one second in front.
Lap 32/44: George Russell leads by seven seconds and hasn’t made a second pit stop. He’s asked whether he’s happy with the tyres and to stay out. Russell says “yes”. Russell is on a brave one-stopper.
Lap 32/44: Having eased past one Red Bull, Lando Norris is closing in on the other. He’s told his hard tyres are “robust” and that he’s free to push on them, and is well within DRS range of his championship rival. We’ve seen throughout this race that if you don’t get the pass done early, it becomes very tricky. The next few laps could be dynamite.
Lap 33/44: Lewis Hamilton has this under control at the moment. His gap to Charles Leclerc is at 2.5s. Does the seven-time world champion have the tyres to see this one through?
Lap 33/44: The fastest driver on track right now is Oscar Piastri, who closes to 1.2 seconds behind Charles Leclerc in the fight for second.
Lap 35/44: Charles Leclerc might earn some brownie points from his future team-mate for that. Oscar Piastri tries to get Leclerc on the run up the hill, but the Ferrari defends boldly on the inside and buys Hamilton another lap to open a gap.
Lap 36/44: Oscar Piastri dances around the outside of Charles Leclerc at Turn Five to take second place. Great racing from both drivers and Piastri gets the job done. His deficit to Lewis Hamilton is five seconds.
Lap 36/44: Charles Leclerc’s defence enabled Lewis Hamilton to open up a five-second gap to their battle. That effort from Leclerc may have been crucial. Russell is definitely not pitting here and he leads by three seconds from team-mate Hamilton. Will Mercedes ask for team orders? Will Russell listen if there is a request? It’s like McLaren in Hungary this time last Sunday!
Lap 38/44: In the battle for fifth, Norris has been within one second of Verstappen for several laps now but just can’t get close enough to make a move. Verstappen is doing a great job to keep Norris behind.
Lap 39/44: Carlos Sainz goes around the outside of Sergio Perez to take seventh place. Perez is really struggling on those hard tyres. He’s been on them for 17 laps, which is a long time, unless you are George Russell who’s been on them for 28 laps!
Lap 40/44: With five laps to go, Lewis Hamilton is just over a second back from his team-mate. This time next lap, he’ll surely be within DRS range.
Lap 41/44: Piastri takes out seven tenths out of Hamilton and is four seconds behind now. The longer Russell keeps Hamilton behind, the better for Piastri. The Australian may join this fight for the win.
Lap 42/44: Lewis Hamilton has a look up the inside but George Russell holds on. This isn’t coming as easily to Hamilton as he may have thought it would.
Lap 44/44: George Russell leads and Lewis Hamilton locks up into the final corner. This is remarkable! That error costs Hamilton and Russell stays ahead in the DRS zone. George Russell just needs to hold on now!
Chequered flag: What a performance! George Russell has pulled off the one-stopper to win the Belgian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc holds onto fourth place from Max Verstappen, with Lando Norris in sixth. Carlos Sainz takes seventh and Sergio Perez is eighth.
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