Mercedes had both a weekend to remember and forget at the 2024 Belgian GP. George Russell initially won the race but was later disqualified. Lewis Hamilton then took the win. One cannot also forget their failed upgrades.
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Free Practice 1 saw Mercedes bring upgrades to the 2024 Belgian GP. It was hoped that the team would capitalise off of recent successes to bring them further into the mix with Red Bull and McLaren. However, they soon reverted back to their original floor and saw success in Qualifying with Lewis Hamilton starting the Grand Prix from P3.
This success extended to a 1-2 finish, the team’s first since Brazil 2022. Russell took the win with Hamilton directly behind. Unfortunately for Mercedes, Russell was disqualified from the race after the FIA discovered that his W15 was under the minimum weight.
“I think it’s the one-stop”
Mercedes Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff laid the blame at the one-stop’s door after the decision was made: “I think it’s the one-stop.”
“There’s no excuse. If it leads to a breach of regulations, then it is what it is. We have to learn from that. As a team, we have more positives today, obviously for George.”
“That’s a massive blow to a driver who had childhood dreams to win these races. That is probably taken away, but it’s going to get better,” Wolff promised the Briton.
Hamilton’s Dissatisfaction
Before the disqualification, Hamilton said to CANAL+, “There’s not really anything to say. We got a 1-2, I got inverted with strategy which… yea.”
The driver seemed displeased with Mercedes’ strategy decisions, which saw him pit when he believed he did not need to. He revealed to Oscar Piastri in the cooldown room that his tyres were fine in all stints that he was told to box. However, as it is believed that the one pit stop led to Russell losing his win, perhaps it was for the best.
He went on to add following the disqualification, “It is of course disappointing for the team to lose the 1-2 but there are lots of positives to take away from today.”
“The car was feeling good, and we had much better pace than we expected. There were several cars that seemed similar in terms of performance but once we had got ahead, we were able to maintain that position. We committed to the two-stop strategy and covered those directly behind us. George was able to make the one-stop work and, although I got close to him in the final few laps, I was unable to get past in the dirty air.”
“We can go into the summer break with momentum and positivity”
Hamilton, as ever, kept it positive for his team despite their natural disappointment following their 1-2 loss: “I feel for George, and you don’t want to win a race through a disqualification, but we have been back in the fight for victories in the past few races. It is incredibly competitive now, so we will need to work hard to battle for wins more consistently. Nevertheless, we can go into the summer break with momentum and positivity.”
Hamilton has finished on the podium at the last three races, with two wins in July. With the W15 showing serious potential, you can expect plenty more 1-2 finishes to come.
Russell’s Woes
It is understandable that the Russell would be feeling down following the loss of his third race win. He took to social media to share his heartbreak, emphasising the pride he feels “in crossing the line first.”
Even though the car was illegal, the Briton will clearly be thinking about this one for a while.
Heartbreaking… We came in 1.5kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race.
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) July 28, 2024
We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first.
There will be more to come.🏆💙 pic.twitter.com/6RfucAqPyF
Image Credit: Mercedes
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