George Russell executed a one-stop race and resisted a late charge from team-mate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes took a shock 1-2 in Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Russell’s strategic gamble paid dividends as it shot him up the order and he nursed his rubber to pip both Hamilton and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to the chequered flag.
The rain which caused disruptions earlier in the weekend subsided and there was glorious sunshine overhead to bring sweltering temperatures as the race grew near.
There was some variation in compounds outside the favoured Medium, with Daniel Ricciardo on Softs as Carlos Sainz and Guanyu Zhou elected for the durable Hard.
Charles Leclerc made a good start to remain unopposed into Turn 1 as Hamilton and Sergio Perez went wheel-to-wheel with the Mercedes driver taking over second.
Perez used the slipstream down the Kemmel Straight to have a go at reclaiming the place, but Hamilton moved his car to the inside to protect second behind Leclerc.
Behind that trio, Lando Norris endured a dreadful start as he slipped three positions to seventh, with Piastri, Russell and Carlos Sainz overtaking the McLaren driver.
Max Verstappen had passed Esteban Ocon and now got past Alex Albon into the Bus Stop chicane to complete the opening tour in ninth, two positions behind Norris.
Hamilton was courting Leclerc’s rear going onto the third tour and he utilised the slipstream and the DRS on the Kemmel Straight to power past and into the race lead.
Prior to that, Verstappen had displaced Alonso to move into eighth, while Sauber’s Zhou reported he was “losing power” as he slowed and returned to the pits to retire.
Haas gambled on an earlier stop in a bold attempt to make up ground from the back as Nico Hulkenberg was called in on Lap 7 to move from Mediums over to Hards.
The race had moved into a management procession with the leading contenders, as Ricciardo, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Logan Sargeant’s Williams all made pit stops.
Mercedes and Red Bull disrupted the picture at the sharp end as Russell and Verstappen both boxed on Lap 10, the pair emerging back onto the track down the order.
Russell was able to overtake Yuki Tsunoda’s RB down the Kemmel Straight and then Kevin Magnussen’s Haas into the last chicane to open up a margin to Verstappen.
Hamilton, Perez and Piastri all pitted on the next lap in response to those two. But while Piastri lost a place to Russell, he was able to repass the Mercedes using DRS.
Perez had moved over to Mediums rather than those on Hards around him, but the extra grip was not proving beneficial as Piastri managed to pass him to take fourth.
Ferrari waited until the next time around to make Leclerc’s stop, but he managed to return to the track without losing a spot as team-mate Sainz and Norris continued.
Norris was told to push “100 per cent” over the radio, as McLaren decided Lap 15 was the time to put him onto Hards, with the Briton coming back out in eighth place.
Sainz was still circulating on his starting Hards, but the Spaniard lost some time to those behind as he lost his Ferrari at Turn 14 and endured a trip through the gravel.
The Ferrari racer came in to change his rubber on Lap 20 as Russell used the DRS and slipstream down the Kemmel Straight to breeze past Perez into fourth position.
Perez was now holding up his team-mate, but Red Bull released Verstappen with the choice to box the Mexican a second time on Lap 22, where he came out in eighth.
Norris was chasing Verstappen on tyres that were several laps newer, but the Briton’s inroads weren’t aided as he sustained a lock-up into the final chicane on Lap 24.
Leclerc had dropped over two seconds behind Hamilton in the battle over the race lead and Ferrari used that as the trigger to stop, but a slow stop ruined his chances.
Mercedes reacted to that move and serviced Hamilton with a one-second faster stop on Lap 26 to ensure the seven-time champion retained track position on Leclerc.
Piastri posted the fastest race lap on his used tyres as he sought to utilise the available clear air as Sainz boxed on Lap 28 to release Hamilton along with Verstappen.
However, Verstappen had no choice but to be equipped with the Mediums to attack the final stint, while Norris boxed on the next lap and went onto the favoured Hard.
McLaren instructed Piastri to pit on Lap 30, but the Hungarian Grand Prix race winner lost time as he went long on his marks, coming out four seconds behind Leclerc.
Hamilton was leading the race behind his Mercedes team-mate Russell, who was edging towards attempting a one-stop in an ambitious attempt to make the podium.
Meanwhile, Piastri was endeavouring to make it back onto the podium places and had closed the margin to Leclerc down to less than a second to have DRS available.
Piastri was quicker than Leclerc at this moment and used DRS and slipstream to be in a place to overtake on Lap 35, but the Ferrari covered the inside at Les Combes.
However, Leclerc was powerless as Piastri maintained enough momentum on the next lap to dance around the outside at the chicane to rise back into third position.
Russell’s ambition to make an audacious one-stop work seemed destined to not deliver a race win as Hamilton began to eat chunks into his team-mate’s advantage.
Behind the contest that the was developing at the top, Sainz resigned Perez to losing another position as the Ferrari driver swooped past into Les Combes on Lap 39.
Hamilton was told to ensure his passing attempt on his team-mate was clean but despite having newer rubber and DRS at his disposal, Russell resisted his advances.
Having survived Hamilton’s charge in the closing laps, Russell headed his team-mate to the chequered flag to claim his third career win and his second in this season.
Hamilton at least resisted Piastri behind to deliver Mercedes’ first 1-2 since Russell’s maiden F1 win at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with Piastri third in his McLaren.
Leclerc managed to beat Verstappen and Norris home in that order to fill the positions fourth through to sixth, with Sainz and Perez coming home seventh and eighth.
Alonso registered two points in the leading Aston Martin with ninth place, while Esteban Ocon added a point to Alpine’s total as he beat RB’s Ricciardo to 10th position.
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