Yet, despite the mistake, there'll be cause for optimism in Brackley as Mercedes were just 1.5kg away from a 1-2 finish at Spa-Francorchamps.
The closeness of Formula One's top four teams was on full display in the 2024 Belgian GP, where any of the top six finishers might've taken a hard-fought win. Max Verstappen's engine penalty dropped the championship leader from pole position down to P11, leaving the front two rows of the grid filled by four different constructors. Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez started the race without any cars ahead of them, but it wasn't Ferrari or Red Bull's day to fight for first.
Hamilton's surging getaway from P3 immediately forced Perez to defend P2, and the pair ran side-by-side on the downhill run to Eau Rouge. The brinksmanship battle went Hamilton's way, and he secured second place by the first braking zone at Les Combes while Leclerc led unopposed.
Behind the podium-sitting places, Lando Norris had a wide moment at La Source, throwing gravel in the air with his left rear tyre and losing three positions. Teammate Oscar Piastri became the leading McLaren and had a hard-charging George Russell attacking down the Kemmel Straight, with Carlos Sainz and Norris slotting in behind. Verstappen also enjoyed a strong start and methodically passed Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso to reach the top eight with only two laps of running.
The evenness of the pack was on full display as no driver generated a gap behind them to feel safe from attack. Leclerc, in particular, couldn't escape future teammate Hamilton's pressure, and a DRS-assisted pass handed the Mercedes driver the lead. On a day when the undercut on fresh rubber worked powerfully, Hamilton's pass was one of few even on-track battles.
It was the sister car of Russell that became the earliest frontrunner to pit.
The forecasted two-stop strategy allowed for multiple pit-lane overtaking opportunities, and Russell's advantage leapfrogged his Mercedes ahead of Piastri - but only briefly. The McLaren fought back after rejoining behind the British driver following his pit stop to reclaim P4. One lap later, Piastri's new tyres' grip helped him blast past Perez with DRS to vault into P3 and become a contender for the win.
A mixture of stint lengths and Pirelli compounds began congregating drivers with fresh and ageing tyres. Russell and Verstappen, who had swapped from Mediums to Hards, had closed in on the plummeting Perez, who had a second set of the yellow-walled Medium rubber. More DRS passes down the Kemmel Straight had Russell speeding past the Red Bull and into P4. The front-row starting Mexican had only thin air between his car and the P11-starting Verstappen as the race reached half distance and his team pitted him for a second time – another humiliating race to add further questions about Perez's long-term future.
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Back at the front, Ferrari rolled the dice for an undercut on Hamilton, bringing Leclerc in for his second and final stop on Lap 25. The Scuderia's aggressive choice forced Mercedes to respond, with Hamilton stopping one lap later to cover off the tyre change. The positions between Leclerc and Hamilton didn't swap, but their stops let Russell inherit the lead on his old tyres, and he asked his team to consider a one-stop strategy.
While Ferrari and Mercedes pit walls had duelled it out with their lead cars, McLaren went their own way with Piastri, stopping the Australian five laps later. The decision began paying off in the final 10 laps when Piastri's Pirelli tyres' extra pace had him go wheel-to-wheel with Leclerc in a fight for the podium spots. F1's latest race-winning driver went around the outside of Leclerc into Les Combes and began to close in on the Mercedes pair ahead. Might he make it two consecutive victories?
Russell's request to not pit again had worked out wonderfully for the Norfolk man. He was losing time to Hamilton but still had enough traction from his tyres out of La Source to stay in front at the favoured overtaking spot on the Kemmel Straight. Try as he might, Hamilton couldn't get close and might've felt relieved not to fall into Piastri's clutches, who picked up DRS by the final lap. The three drivers had just 1.1 seconds separating them as the chequered flag waved.
Unfortunately, the podium celebrations for Russell, who was bouncing with excitement in parc fermé, proved premature. The FIA found his Mercedes underweight, disqualifying his car and promoting Hamilton to take his 105th F1 victory. Piastri inherited P2, with Leclerc taking P3, meaning the final classification had three teams taking silverware and reigning champions Red Bull Racing not among them. The tightness of the field is palpable as F1 heads to its summer break, with a three-weekend gap before the Dutch GP on August 25th.