F1: Lewis Hamilton is back as Red Bull faces title scrap

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton gestures as he arrives for the podium ceremony after the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Spa on July 28, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are back as a race-winning force, Max Verstappen and Red Bull face a fight to keep their titles and Fernando Alonso may be aging, but he is not finished yet.

Even as George Russell was disqualified for a technical breach after winning, there was no hiding the obvious outcomes of a tense, intriguing and ultimately thrilling Belgian Grand Prix.

AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from Sunday’s drama at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit:

Lewis Hamilton gets mojo back

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton emerged from a two-and-a-half-year hiatus when he won the British Grand Prix and has since added a podium in Hungary and Sunday’s gifted win.

It confirms he is back and close to his best – he made a superb start, stormed into the lead and controlled the race before Russell’s ill-fated one-stop strategy put him ahead — and in a car that is better than he ever believed possible when he decided to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari next year.

The team may have lost an emphatic one-two triumph when Russell’s car was found to be 1.5 kg under-weight in post-race scrutiny but for Hamilton it brought a 105th career win exactly 11 years after he recorded the first of his Mercedes victories in 2013.

As investigations began into the reason for Mercedes’ rare error, it was clear that Russell will be involved too in a titles scrap likely to include up to seven drivers.

His ‘heartbreaking’ loss of Sunday’s win with a one-stop strategy from sixth on the grid was most likely due to his bold ‘gut instinct’ decision to switch from a two-stop on lap 26, thus finishing the race on very worn tyres that weighed significantly less than fresher ones.

Verstappen’s damage limitation

Russell’s post-race disqualification was a boost for Max Verstappen as he was elevated to fourth ahead of Norris, who once again threw away a chance to reduce the champion’s now 78-point lead.

Verstappen had started 11th after taking a grid penalty and used an under-cut to beat his main title rival. It was ‘damage limitation’, he said.

But with Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez finishing seventh, after starting second, and Oscar Piastri second, McLaren has closed to 366 points, 82 behind Red Bull’s 408 in the constructors’ championship.

As the teams break up for a three-week holiday before the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23, Red Bull has a decision to take on the future of Perez, without a win this year and struggling.

Reserve driver Liam Lawson and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, promoted to 10th on Sunday, are in contention to step in if the Mexican is released from his duties. A test at Imola this week may decide.

Alonso ages in style

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, like his old team-mate and foe Lewis Hamilton, continued to demonstrate how to age in style by steering his Aston Martin to eight – the best of the rest behind the ‘big four’ teams.

It was his 43rd birthday on Monday yet he showed raw enthusiasm, commitment and a competitive spirit to more than match many of his rivals 23 years after making his F1 debut. He has entered 395 races, started 392, won 32, had 20 different team-mates and taken 22 pole positions.

His last win came with Ferrari at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, but he showed no sign of defeat.