By F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth
PARIS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Mercedes' George Russell held off teammate Lewis Hamilton to take a brilliant victory in Sunday's Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Starting sixth on the grid, Russell and Mercedes elected to abandon plans for a second tyre stop, and instead drove the last 32 of the race's 44 laps on a single set of Hard compound rubber.
Despite such a lengthy stint on one set of tyres, Russell managed to maintain enough pace to keep the two-stopping chasing pack behind, using his battery well to defend from Hamilton and take his second win of 2024.
"Amazing. We definitely didn't predict this win this morning in our strategy meeting but the car was feeling really awesome," said Russell afterwards, confirming the improvised nature of his win.
"We made a lot of changes from Friday night and the tyres just felt great. I kept saying 'we can do the one stop'.
"Lewis really controlled that race and if circumstances were slightly different I am sure he would have got the victory, but a 1-2 for the team was such an awesome result and such a great way to go into the break."
Before Russell's one-stop strategy became apparent, Hamilton had seemed the likeliest winner of the race, with the Briton having passed both Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc in the opening laps, but Russell's heroic stint consigned him to a disappointed second.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri produced a strong final stint to complete the podium, with the top three separated by just 1.1 seconds at the chequered flag.
Ferrari's Leclerc had started from pole position, but faded to fourth after having lost the lead to Hamilton on lap 3, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen salvaging fifth after having started 11th.
The Dutchman had set the fastest time in Saturday's rainy qualifying session, but took a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his season's quota of four power units, and was unable to scythe his way through to the head of the pack.
Verstappen is now on his longest winless streak in F1 since 2020, having now not taken victory in the last four Grands Prix.
In sixth place came Piastri's teammate Lando Norris, with the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz taking seventh.
Verstappen's under-fire teammate Sergio Perez had a disappointing day, starting second but fading to eighth by the flag after having not suffered any notable misfortune throughout the Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso took ninth for Aston Martin, with Esteban Ocon rounding out the top ten with a useful point for the beleaguered Alpine squad.
Despite a recent slump in results, Verstappen still leads the Drivers' Championship with 275 points, ahead of Norris on 197 and Leclerc on 175.
In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull's lead stands at 404 points, but McLaren have edged closer on 361, with Ferrari third on 340.
F1 now embarks on its annual four-week summer break, before the 2024 season restarts with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 25. ■