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Mercedes experienced the bittersweet feeling of watching one of their drivers take victory at the Belgian Grand Prix and another lose their grip on the race after George Russell was disqualified from the race.
Russell had beaten his team-mate Lewis Hamilton with an excellent one-stop tyre strategy but was excluded by the stewards due to his car being underweight by 1.5kg. Hamilton was promoted to race winner with Oscar Piastri second and Charles Leclerc third.
It was another dismal weekend for Red Bull too after Sergio Perez’s latest struggles on the race track, with the Mexican’s future now in serious doubt after finishing seventh from second on the grid.
For all the latest news, reaction and fall out from the Belgian GP follow below…
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46 mins ago15: 53 Archie Griggs
FIA urged to change unusual ruleMartin Brundle has urged the FIA to ‘revisit’ the lack of a cool down lap at the Belgian Grand Prix.
It is the only circuit on the F1 calendar where drivers do not complete an extra lap after the chequered flag.
George Russell might not have been disqualified if he was allowed a cool down lap to increase the weight of his tyres by picking up discarded rubber marbles.
Writing in his Sky Sports column, Brundle said: “In Spa, due to the long lap, there is no slow-down lap and the cars are directed into the pit lane exit to trundle down it the wrong way towards the podium and parc feme.
“I always think that’s a shame for the fans and should be revisited, but it’s longstanding and will be factored in by the teams as this means there is no chance to pick up discarded rubber marbles offline and add significant weight to each tyre.”
1 hour ago15: 35 Archie Griggs
Sainz to join Williams in 2025Williams have officially announced that Carlos Sainz will join the team on a multi-year deal from 2025 onwards.
The Spaniard will leave Ferrari at the end of the season to make way for Lewis Hamilton.
He will partner Alex Albon at Williams, with Logan Sargeant on his way out of the team after two years in F1.
BREAKING: Carlos Sainz will join the team for ’25, ’26 and beyond ud83eudd29u200b
BIENVENIDO, CARLOS! ud83eudd1d
Read the full story u2b07ufe0f
u2014 Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 29, 2024 1 hour ago15: 12 Joe Krishnan
Chandhok: ‘Frustrated’ Norris undone by errorsKarun Chandhok believes Lando Norris will be feeling “very frustrated” after a mistake on the first lap cost him a potential podium at the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Lando will be very frustrated,” Chandhok told Sky Sports F1. “He looked very downbeat, understandably, because he made a mistake on the opening lap, lost two or three places and that cost him throughout the race, he couldn’t recover that.
“We’ve seen now in Spain, sprint race in China, we’ve seen in Budapest… we’ve had three different occasions where on the start of the opening lap, Lando has lost out and it’s cost him at the end.
“It’s something for him to think about at the end of the summer break.”
2 hours ago14: 39 Joe Krishnan
Newey exit behind Red Bull issuesRalf Schumacher has claimed Red Bull’s recent decline is down to Adrian Newey’s exit at the start of the season.
The 65-year-old design guru is no longer working on their F1 car after announcing his departure following 18 years with the team.
And Schumacher thinks his replacement, Pierre Wache, has struggled to deliver the same level of performance for the RB20.
“It started at the beginning of the season,” former F1 driver turned Sky pundit Schumacher said of Red Bull’s form.
“One of the most important men left the team and I believe that the successor has not been able to close this gap yet.
“He has to prove it when you look at the car. A few things have changed, the car is harder to drive. Both drivers are finding it harder, including Max Verstappen.”
(Image: )
3 hours ago13: 56 Joe Krishnan
Red Bull address Ricciardo and Lawson testRed Bull boss Christian Horner insists Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson’s upcoming F1 test will not decide their future as the pair prepare for a “filming day” with RB.
Ricciardo and Lawson will be driving a 2024 VCARB F1 car at Imola this week, but Horner has clarified the situation after reports said it could be a “shootout” for the Red Bull seat to replace Sergio Perez.
“It’s a filming day, so they’ll be filming. It’s all about content,” Horner said.
“It is in the current car, because you can do 200 km in the current car. So they’ll both be doing plenty of filming.”
3 hours ago13: 12 Joe Krishnan
Leclerc: Belgian GP podium not positive resultCharles Leclerc admits Ferrari cannot consider their Belgium Grand Prix podium finish a “positive result” because they lost out to Mercedes.
The Monegasque started on pole but was quickly swallowed up by Lewis Hamilton on Lap 3. Leclerc only finished on the podium after George Russell’s disqualification and he wasn’t happy with how the Scuderia performed.
“It wasn’t [positive], because if it was a Red Bull in front, then I think it would have been a positive weekend,” Leclerc said.
“But now it was a Mercedes, which we thought we were on a par with them, and they had the edge on us. So, yeah, I don’t consider this result a very positive one.”
4 hours ago12: 32 Joe Krishnan
Vowles ‘confident’ Sainz will join WilliamsWilliams boss James Vowles says his “heart is set” on signing Carlos Sainz and remains confident of capturing the Ferrari driver.
Sainz has several offers on the table as he mulls over his next move from 2025, with Mercedes, Sauber and Williams all linked with a move.
“I’m open minded but I want excellence within the team, I want race-winning performance within the team, I want individuals that are leaders, in other words they are established,” Vowles said at Spa.
“So, out of all of those, the top of the list I’ve said from the start is Carlos [Sainz]. Last year he won a race and he did it the intelligent way against some of the best individuals. He’s beaten Lando [Norris] and Charles [Leclerc], he brings excellence along with him and that is where my heart is set.
“The reason he told me is that when I commit, I need to commit with all my heart and all my soul, and to do that 100% and to do that I can’t have any doubts, and that’s why he’s taking his time…
“How confident am I? I think the odds are in my favour but I’ve been stung by this once already this year.”
(Image: Getty)
5 hours ago11: 55 Joe Krishnan
Villeneuve turns on under-fire PerezSergio Perez has become the latest driver to be criticised by former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve for his performance.
The Mexican finished eighth at the Belgian Grand Prix but was bumped up to seventh following George Russell’s disqualification.
But Villeneuve, who recently chastised Daniel Ricciardo and suggested the Australian should quit F1, didn’t hold back in assessing Perez’s performance.
“Well, not an exciting race but a surprising one,” Villeneuve said on Instagram. “Disappointing for Red Bull, Max didn’t get up through the field and Perez starting on the front row, finishing 8th… extremely disappointing, not a good day.”
6 hours ago10: 21 Joe Krishnan
Hamilton engineer criticised over ‘unnecessary’ messageLewis Hamilton being told to give enough space when racing George Russell in the Belgian Grand Prix was an “unnecessary” message, according to ex-F1 chief Peter Windsor.
While the pair were allowed to race in the final laps, Hamilton was told by his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington to “give each other a lot of space’ when chasing Russell.
But former F1 manager Windsor believes it was an “unnecessary” message and one that should have been relayed to Russell instead.
“I thought it was quite interesting [with] two or three laps to go, and they [Mercedes] said ‘just give each other a lot of space’ to Lewis, I think they should have been giving that message to George actually,” Windsor said on his YouTube channel.
“They gave it to Lewis and I wonder if that changed things a little bit, that’s unnecessary to say that to Lewis Hamilton I think because he’s not the sort of driver that ever really does anything incredibly stupid, particularly with a team-mate.
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7 hours ago09: 49 Joe Krishnan
Verstappen demands Red Bull answersMax Verstappen has warned Red Bull they have bigger problems than Sergio Perez after another below-par performance at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Perez’s future appears to be in serious doubt just weeks after signing a new contract to 2026, with Red Bull planning to hold talks about the Mexican today.
But Verstappen has taken the unusual step of going against his mentor Helmut Marko by suggesting their ‘main concern’ is not Perez, but the declining pace of their RB20 car.
“Our main concern is the car,” Verstappen told the written media after the Belgian Grand Prix. “That’s what we should focus on mainly because I think if you look at Checo’s weekend, it was very positive.
“Of course in the race, it just shows that we have difficulties still with the tyre life. I think that should be our main priority.”
8 hours ago08: 58 Joe Krishnan
Hamilton breaks silence on Russell disqualificationLewis Hamilton says he is “gutted” for George Russell after his Mercedes team-mate lost his Belgian Grand Prix race victory following his disqualification at Spa.
The 39-year-old took to social media on Monday to dedicate a post to Russell on his Instagram Stories.
“Great drive today @georgerussell63, really am gutted for you and the team losing the win and also our 1-2 which the team deserved,” Hamilton wrote.
“Let’s keep pushing, work towards 1-2 in the second half [fist emoji].”
(Image: @lewishamilton)
8 hours ago08: 33 Joe Krishnan
Ricciardo ready for Red Bull ‘job interview’Daniel Ricciardo has sympathised with Sergio Perez’s situation at Red Bull – before admitting he is ready for his “job interview” to potentially take his seat.
The Australian is believed to be the frontrunner to replace Perez until the end of the season if he is sacked by the team, and the 35-year-old is ready to prove he has what it takes to be Max Verstappen’s team-mate for the second time.
“Look I get it, it can be a bit tiring [talking about Perez’s future], but I’ve been there,” Ricciardo said.
“So yeah, at 35 a job interview! We’ll see, we were always planning to do a filming day, I might do a few extra laps. Will it have some weight or not let’s see.
“I guess my approach is every time I get strapped in, I try and do the best I can. I won’t be in holiday mode just yet.”
9 hours ago07: 53 Joe Krishnan
Red Bull plan Perez talksRed Bull team principal Christian Horner confirmed he will hold talks with Sergio Perez to decide his future today after Helmut Marko blasted his performance at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Mexican was criticised for finishing seventh after starting second on the grid, with Max Verstappen passing him despite starting 11th.
Marko told Sky Germany that Perez “completely collapsed”, with Horner admitting the team would sit down for talks with the 34-year-old.
“Things are always constantly analysed,” Horner said. “We have a meeting on Monday but it’s not just about Checo.
“There are other topics on the agenda as well, which we always do before the summer break.”
9 hours ago07: 51 Joe Krishnan
Mercedes investigate Russell disqualification errorMercedes trackside engineering chief Andrew Shovlin has vowed to launch an investigation into George Russell’s disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Briton saw his hard-earned victory snatched away by the stewards as his car was underweight by 1.5kg, and Shovlin admits it was “not good enough” for the Silver Arrows to allow such a situation to arise.
“It’s really tough for George to have been disqualified from the win after such an impressive drive,” Shovlin said in a team statement.
“He did a brilliant job to hang onto the tyres and defend to the finish. We don’t yet understand why the car was underweight following the race but will investigate thoroughly to find the explanation.
“We expect that the loss of rubber from the one-stop was a contributing factor, and we’ll work to understand how it happened. We won’t be making any excuses though.
“It is clearly not good enough and we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
(Image: Getty)
9 hours ago07: 49 Joe Krishnan
Good morning!Hello and welcome to Express Sport’s LIVE coverage with all of the latest news following the F1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Stay with us as we bring you all of the reaction and breaking stories after a dramatic race at Spa on Sunday.
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