Formula 1 itself is like many of its drivers, such as Max Verstappen or Fernando Alonso, with a legion of followers almost as numerous as the number of ‘haters’. In the championship there are races that fill those who criticise the competition for considering it boring with arguments. On the other hand, there are also Sundays as electric as this last one, in Spa, where the race was not decided until several hours after the ceremony of a podium with an absolutely unexpected podium composition had concluded. George Russell’s victory, sixth on the grid, was the second of the year for the British driver and the answer to those who believe that this competition is too predictable and leaves no room for improvisation. However, the joy only lasted for the boy from Norfolk to bathe in champagne and post a ‘post’ on Instagram.
A couple of hours after crossing the finish line, the stewards noticed a discrepancy between the values given by the two scales on which the winning Mercedes was weighed. In the first operation, the car was weighed with the fuel left in the tank, and it came out at exactly 798 kilos, a figure that coincides precisely with the minimum allowed by the regulations. In the second weighing, already without fuel, the car came out at 796.5 kilos, a kilo and a half below the regulatory limit. Once the infringement was discovered, the FIA called the Mercedes officials to testify, who were unable to defend the legality of Russell’s W15, which was disqualified with immediate effect. This change in events gave Lewis Hamilton the victory and repositioned the rest of the participants, who gained a position with respect to the order in which they crossed the finish line. Oscar Piastri finished second and Charles Leclerc third, just ahead of Verstappen (fourth), who started eleventh – he was carrying a penalty for having used the fifth engine – and climbed six places. Carlos Sainz finished sixth and Fernando Alonso, eighth.
The cancellation of Russell’s victory ruined a fantasy story for Mercedes. With the experience of Friday’s practice sessions and Saturday’s qualifying sessions, nobody would have bet a penny in Belgium on a victory for the brand with the star, which screwed up the package of improvements it introduced in this event but was smart enough to react and return to the configuration it used the previous Sunday in Hungary. Thanks to that last-minute change, a prodigious start by Hamilton and a counter-strategy for Russell – he made only one stop and the rest of his opponents made two – the German manufacturer put its two drivers in the mess to guide them from the wall, each on their own side, until they met at the end, three laps from the checkered flag. Hamilton reached his neighbour in the workshop but did not manage to throw his car at him, probably so as not to risk causing a big mess, and that made his teammate’s bet pay off, even if only momentarily.
After sleeping for almost half a year, in that whiny version that emerges when things are not going quite right, Hamilton has been regaining his stimuli as Mercedes has revitalised his car to once again show his best profile just in time for his holiday. At Silverstone, earlier this month and in front of a crowd that cried with joy with him, the Stevenage driver won a race three years after the last time. That boost motivated a change of attitude on the track in Hamilton, who seems to be the same as always and that is the best news for a World Championship that is more open than ever. Proof of this is the minimal difference (1.1 seconds) that separated the three who got on the podium. It is true that Verstappen has a considerable cushion of points (78 points), but it is equally true that the Dutchman is no longer competing only against himself or against a single rival, but against three. Seven days ago, in the ‘paddock’ there was a quorum when classifying the McLaren as the sharpest prototype of the moment. In less than a week, there are already those who believe that the W15 is at the same level, if not a step further.
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