5 Winners and 5 Losers from Belgium – Who ended the first half of the year on a high?

George Russell went from winner to loser inside an hour after the chequered flag as the Mercedes driver had his Belgian Grand Prix race victory taken away because of infringement discovered in post-race scrutineering. While he’ll head into the summer break wondering what might have been – others will switch into vacation mode with a spring in their step. Lawrence Barretto picks out his winners and losers from Spa.

Loser: George Russell

Oh George. George Russell was revelling in arguably his greatest ever drive – only for the stewards to find his car was in breach of the regulations and, as a result, the Briton was disqualified from the results. It was a bitter pill to take.

The Mercedes racer was the only frontrunner to make a one-stop work, earning the name “tyre whisperer” from boss Toto Wolff as he made his tyres last for 34 laps while fending off team mate Lewis Hamilton on fresher rubber for the win.

READ MORE: Wolff apologises to Russell after Mercedes ‘mistake’ leads to Belgian GP disqualification

The DSQ cost him a second victory of the season and the third of his career. It also cost Mercedes what would have been only their second one-two finish in the last four years.

Winner: Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton may have been gifted this win courtesy of Russell’s disqualification – but it was a victory he will have felt he deserved.

The seven-time world champion did everything right to lead most of the Grand Prix and only lost the lead when Mercedes decided to try a one-stopper with Russell that gained him track position.

EXPLAINED: Why Russell was stripped of Belgian GP victory, the rule that was broken and how it could have happened

This was his second victory in three races and he becomes the only driver other than Max Verstappen to win more than one race this season. That’s also four podiums in five Grands Prix, having not stepped on the rostrum in the first nine events of the year.

Loser: Sergio Perez

This was looking like the weekend that Sergio Perez bounced back with aplomb when he secured P2 on the grid, just 0.011s off pole.

But the Red Bull driver, whose team mate Verstappen started back in 11th after a 10-place grid penalty for an engine component change, simply didn’t have the pace in the Grand Prix.

He crossed the line eighth, which became seventh following Russell’s DSQ, and took the fastest lap to boot. But that was of little consolation given not only did his team mate finish three places ahead but the team expected so much better.

READ MORE: Perez says he's 'had enough of the speculation’ on Red Bull future as he looks back on ‘really bad race’ in Belgium

Winner: Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri is on a supreme run of form at the minute, the Australian scoring his third podium in four races with a superb drive at Spa.

Piastri crossed the line third – but was promoted to second thanks to Russell’s DSQ. He beat team mate Lando Norris for the second successive race and is now just 10 points behind Charles Leclerc in the fight for P3 in the drivers’ standings.

His P2 also ensured McLaren extended their run of successive podiums to 10 and cut the gap to championship leaders Red Bull to 42 points as we head into the summer break.

READ MORE: Norris left frustrated by ‘embarrassing’ moment that ‘ruined my chances’ in Belgian GP

Loser: Lando Norris

Fifth may have been Lando Norris’ best-ever finish at Spa in six career starts, but that will be of little consolation to the McLaren racer who started ahead of title rival Verstappen but finished behind to fall further back in the drivers’ standings.

Norris was characteristically tough on himself for his mistake at Turn 1, which saw him run onto the gravel at the exit and lost a string of positions.

While the car felt good, like many of his rivals he struggled to overtake and thus left Spa 78 points adrift of Verstappen with 10 Grands Prix to go.

Winner: Charles Leclerc

Ferrari’s pace may have tailed off a little in recent events, but Charles Leclerc has done a fantastic job of getting every single thousandth out of his red machine.

At Spa, he took a surprise pole – a position inherited courtesy of Verstappen’s grid penalty. It was his second of the season and 25th of his career.

While he didn’t have the pace to maintain the lead for long – he was passed by Hamilton on lap two – he drove an accomplished race to see the flag fourth for the second success race. That became third to give him his first podium since winning the Monaco Grand prix.

FACTS AND STATS: Hamilton is 2024’s second multiple winner as McLaren hit 10 podiums in a row

Loser: Kick Sauber

It was another chastening weekend for Kick Sauber, whose pointless run in 2024 continued despite glimmers that the Swiss-team are closing the gap to the rest of the pack.

A high point was the 1.9s stop for Valtteri Bottas as it highlights the fine work the team have done after the pit stop woes that blighted the start of the season.

But Bottas simply didn’t have the rear tyres to fight for points while Zhou Guanyu’s race was ended by a loss of power, followed by a loss of brakes.

Winner: Max Verstappen

P4 is nothing to celebrate for Verstappen, given how successful the three-time world champion has been over the last few years.

But this was a fantastic damage limitation weekend for the Dutchman, who qualified fastest in qualifying for the fourth year in a row at Spa but started 11th because of a grid penalty.

READ MORE: ‘We have work to do’ – Verstappen acknowledges dominant days are 'behind' Red Bull despite 'positive' Belgian GP

Verstappen fought his way into the points – and while he couldn’t quite fight back onto the podium, he did pass championship rival Norris to finish ahead and extend his lead in the standings.

Losers: Williams

Williams failed to score for the second race on the bounce, with Alex Albon the team’s leading finisher in 12th.

The Thai driver made a good start to gain a couple of places and race Fernando Alonso – who went on to score points for Aston Martin – but he lacked pace in the second stint and fell away.

The team have struggled to bring upgrades, in part because of the high damage bill early in the year, and that has seen them fall away from their midfield rivals on pure performance.

READ MORE: Sainz signs for Williams as Spaniard's F1 future is confirmed

Winner: Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso was in fine form at Spa, sailing into Q3 – the final part of qualifying – for the third race weekend in succession.

While he fell back a place to ninth at the flag – having impressively made a one-stop strategy work – he was back up to eighth courtesy of Russell’s removal from the classification.

That was his second points finish in three events and ninth of the season, leaving him in a comfortable ninth in the drivers’ standings with double the points of team mate Lance Stroll.