F1- Belgian Grand Prix RECAP: George Russell holds off Lewis Hamilton to seal victory

So it was ultimately George Russell’s strategy call and tyre management that won out today.

He managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages to claim his best career win so far.

Elsewhere, Max Verstappen stretched his lead at the top of the world drivers’ championship as he held off Lando Norris.

Formula 1 will now head into a three week summer break before returning at Zandvoort.

Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you again for the next Grand Prix.

In the meantime, you can read Henry Clark’s full repor here

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton combined for the first Mercedes one-two since Sao Paulo in 2022.

It was much the same on that day as George Russell led the way for the Silver Arrows.

Max Verstappen has finished fifth three times in the last four races and his grid penalty did him no favours. Here is what he had to say:

‘We just got stuck in the DRS train and we did the best we could becase we knew we were stuck in the corner with the tyres.

‘After the first stint I was nine seconds off the lead and I stayed there, if I started the race in pole maybe it was different and I could have compete for the race win.

‘But I took the penalty and my race was all about damage limitation.

‘Sometimes Mercedes, sometimes McLaren they are ahead of us, we know we have a lot of work to do.

Lando Norris cut a frustrated figure as he spoke to Sky Sports following his sixth place finshed saying:

Strategy was good, in the end whoever undercut the most won the race.

We did what we thought was best, but with hindsight undercut was the right thing but the pace in the car was good.

Dirty air costs you so much and I was always in the diry air, when I did get into clean air the car felt good.

From the team side super happy but I feel like the last couple of races I have meseed up a lot

Speaking to Sky Sports following the race Toto Wolff spoke about the upgrades brough to Belgium and the decision to two-stop Lewis Hamilton:

‘On friday we really wasnt competive we was expecting best case podium but the team worked really hard and it was good on one stop and good on two stops.

Overnight, our chief engineer figured out what it was and it worked.

‘We changed the floor, what we realised overnight we saw we had a mechanical issue.

‘We had to cover Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris because we would have been undercut but George had nothing to lose as the one stop and the two stop had him P5.

‘George was very good today and Lewis was very good today, they both did a fabulous job and I would have likedto have had two winners today.’

It was an incredible drive from George Russell who provided a masterclass in tyre management.

But it was an equally frustrating race for Max Verstappen who could only manage a fifth placed finish.

George RussellLewis HamiltonOscar PiastriCharles LeclercMax VerstappenLando NorrisCarlos SainzSergio PerezFernando AlonsoEsteban OconDaniel RicciardoLance StrollAlex AlbonPierre GaslyKevin MagnussenValtteri BottasYuki TsunodaLogan SargeantNico Hulkenberg

George Russell: ‘Aazing result, we didn’t predict this win in the strategy meeting this morning but the car felt amazing and I thought I could have done a one stop.

‘I was focusing a lot during the race but it was a team effort, we rolled the dice but it was only possible because the pace was there.

‘Three wins in six, I want another race next weekend to be honest.’

Lewis Hamilton: ‘We didn’t expect this, congratulations to George and the team, we had such a disaster on friday, the car was nowhere but the car was fantastic today and we owe it to everyone here and back in the factory

‘George did a great job of going long on the tyres, every stint i still had life left in the tyres but I was brought in

‘If we can continue this type of performance and start our weekend off better, we can keep pushing.’

‘Clean air was scuh a big difference today, I managed to get a nice tyre delta for the last stop but clearly didn’t need that as George [Russell] showed.

‘That is the second or third time this year I have run over the front jack so I will try not to do that anymore.

‘It took me a couple of laps to get past Charles [Leclerc] and I really overheated the tyres doing that. we didn’t have enough pace to run them down.

‘It has been a good couple of weeks for myself and the team and we have made inroads on Red Bull and that is massive.’

It is a strategy masterclass from GEorge Russell.

He stated sixth on the grid today, and his one stop has seen him hold on for a race win.

Lewis Hamilton just didn’t have enough to get past his team-mate.

A one-two for Mercedes to finish the first part of the season.

Oscar Piastri finishes in third to round out the podim

It’s all very close among the top three.

Oscar Piastriis inside two seconds to Lewis Hamilton who is srtuggling to overtake George Russell.

Could the race between the two Mercedes be playing into the hands of Osscar Piastri.

Lewis Hamilton has cut the gap to the to his team-mate George Russell to under half a second.

The only directive so far from the team has been to give each other plenty of space.

It lookslike Hamilton is going to have to take the place on the track without team orders/

It has been far from an ideal race for Sergio Perez and his day goes from bad to worse as Carlos Sainz gets his man.

Perez is now down to eighth after starting on the front row.

For all of the talk about Lewis Hamilton holding off Oscar Piastri, George Rusell could still win this race.

Hamilton has closed the gap to his teammate to 2.8 seconds, shaving a whole second off the lead.

In doing so he also stretched the gap over Oscar Piastri to 5.7 seconds.

Oscar Piastri has the DRS advantage down the camel straight and he uses that expertly to execute the overtake heading into the chicane.

He and Charles Leclerc go wheel-to-wheel as they both safely come out the turn with Piastri ahead.

Out of nowhere Oscar Piastri has suddenly got all of the pace on track and he is all over the back of Charles Leclerc.

‘Am I on target? Will I beat him?’ was the question from Lewis Hamilton. You have to assume he is talking about the Australian driver moreso than his teammate.

‘Just to confirm you’re happy staying out?’ was the question posed to George Russell.

He is more than happy to do so and hold onto the race lead. It looks like he is going to be on a one stop strategy.

Will he be able hold on and win with tyres that are already 21 lap old with 12 laps to go?

As Oscar Piastri came into his pit box a little too fast there and his front jack man took the brunt of it.

He was able to hold the car up on it’s marks still but the stop was slow.

It may not be the blood and thunder of last week’s race but there is plenty of intrigue this week.

There are a number of strategies on show among the top 10 and it is hard to say which one is best.

But we do have another race leader. George Russell inherits it from Oscar Piastri

Lewis Hamilton’s stop was a full second faster than Charles Leclerc and the Mercedes driver keeps his 2.5 second lead over Leclerc.

There is an interest wrinkle here as Hamilton is sanwiched by the Ferrari’s.

Will Carlos Sainz play the team game and hold up Hamilton?

On the track, it has been pretty plain sailing for Lewis Hamilton so far as he held a two second lead over Charles Leclerc.

But Ferrari have pitted their driver in order to try the undercut.

It is a slightly slower stop at 3.4 second for the prancing horses and that could negate the undercut for Mercedes/

Well Red Bull didn’t have to bother with team orders and have managed to avoid any drama by bringing Sergio Perez into the pits.

That has released Max Verstappen but he is being hunted down by Lando Norris who is now in DRS range.

Carlos Sainz finally pits from the race lead onto the medium compound. He has come back out onto the track in 8th place.

On track, George Russell has made a massive move, his DRS advantag, sees him overtake Sergio Perez.

Now there’s a big decision for Red Bull to make with Max Verstappen sat behind his teammate.

Daily Mail’s Henry Clark at Spar:

Norris has a five-lap tyre advantage over his rivals… but you have to wonder whether McLaren have left it too late to bring him in. Whisper it quietly, but things are looking quite good for Lewis Hamilton at the moment.

The field is just beginning to setlle down again following the flurry of pit stops.

Carlos Sainz started the race on the hard tyre and is going long into the race on his first stint.

But the fresher hards on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes is allowing him to close the gap.

The race leader pits on to the hard tyre and a lap later Charles Leclerc follows.

That leaves Carlos Sainz in the race lead from Lando Norris and then Fernando Alonso.

The front three are yet to pit.

Max Verstappen is the first driver inside the top 10 pit as Red Bull try to undercut Lando Norris.

George Russell is also in the pit as he is given a fresh set of hard tyres.

But the problem for Max Verstappen is that he struggled to get past an Alpine.

Nico Hulkenberg is the first car to pit as he comes in the hards. You have to imagine that is a two strop strategy for the Haas.

At the front Lewis Hamilton has stretched his lead over Charles Leclerc to over 1.5s

He may have said he was okay to continue earlier, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Zhou brings the car into the pits and is retired from the race.

Daily Mail’s Henry Clark at Spa:

A fascinating start to the Belgian Grand Prix with hardly anything to separate the top eight. I’ll take next week’s lottery numbers from anyone who is able to predict the winner at this stage.

The pace of the Merceds on the medium tyre is very impressive as Lewis Hamilton looks to build a lead to Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc remains in DRS range of the British driver but he cannot make up sufficient ground to challenge for the race lead at the moment.

There is a slow moving Sauber on track and is that of Zhou Guanyu who has told his team over the radio that he will try to limp home.

But he appears to have stayed out and comes over the team radio to say he is okay to continue

Daily Mail’s Henry Clark:

A disastrous start for Norris, who drops two places by the end of the opening lap after running wide at turn one. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, has climbed two spots and is now within two of his title rival.

It’s lights out and away we go!

Lewis Hamilton gets a great start and he is able to jump Sergio Perez into second place as they go through the opening hair pin.

It is a poor start for Lando Norris who has lost about three places.

Everyone is safely through the opening lap as Charles Leclerc leads the grand prix

All of the pre-race pagentry is officially over and Charles Leclerc is leading the cars on the formation lap.

Buckle up for 44 laps around one of the most iconic tracks on the Formula 1 calendar.

Daily Mail’s Henry Clark is at Spa today, and this is what he has to say ahead of the race.

This will be a fascinating first lap. Max Verstappen knows he is going to have to use the opportunity to make up some serious ground on his rivals. Remember, he’s going for a fourth win in as many years in Spa. If he manages to pull this one off from 11th, it will surely go down as the best of those.

The national anthem of Belgium has just been sung beautifully. Which means we are getting very close to the formation lap and the red lights going out.

Let us know who you think will win the race in the comments

Martin Brundle caught up with Mark Webber, Oscar Piastri’s manager, ahead of the race.

Bone dry today, beautiful weather which is unusual for Belgium. McLaren have gone aggressive with top speed. They think it is the best way so we will see.

It hasn’t stopped raining all weekend at Spa and it made for very tricky qualifying conditions.

But there appears to be no threat of rain to speak of today.

The sun is shining and the fans can finally ditch those rain ponchos for some sunglasses.

It is currently around 22 degrees at the race track, perfect conditions for a race.

There’s no doubting that it has been a testing season for Sergio Perez, but he has the perfect opoortunity to make an impact today.

Starting second on the grid, if he makes a strong start he will be able to dictate the pace of the race and bring Max Verstappen into play early.

Mind you, given his pace yesterday, I am not sure Verstappen will need any help.

The McLaren ceo Zak Brown has made a habit of going above and beyond to celebrate his drivers’ first win in Papya.

He decided to get tattoos to mark Daniel Ricciardo’s and Lando Norris’ first wins for the constructor.

This week, he has gone for something less permanent as he sports a papaya mohawk wig.

Before we do anything else, let’s remind you of the starting grid today.

Max Verstappen was the fastest on track yesterday but he will not be starting the race on pole position.

That distinction goes to Charles Leclerc, who put in a phenomenal lap as the final round of qualifying came to an end.

Charles LeclercSergio PerezLewis HamiltonLando NorrisOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzFernando AlonsoEsteban OconAlex AlbonMax VerstappenPierre GaslyDaniel RicciardoValtteri BottasLance StrollNico HulkenbergKevin MagnussenLogan SargeantGuanyu ZhouYuki Tsunoda

It was a tight qualifying yesterday as the rain wreaked havoc with every drivers’ laps.

That may not be the case with the sun shining in Spa but we are likely in for another race full of twists and turns