POWER RANKINGS: Which drivers impressed our judges with some brilliant driving in Belgium?

Mercedes pulled off a surprise one-two result at the Belgian Grand Prix, with George Russell leading home team mate Lewis Hamilton before being disqualified for an underweight car. But in addition to the Silver Arrows pair, who impressed our judges around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit? Scroll down to check out the latest Power Rankings leaderboard...

How it works

Our five-judge panel assess each driver after every Grand Prix and score them out of 10 according to their performance across the weekend – taking machinery out of the equation
Our experts’ scores are then averaged out to produce a race score – with those scores then tallied up across the season on our overall Power Rankings Leaderboard (at the bottom of the page)

Hamilton did everything right in the early stages of the race as he promptly cleared Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc to go from third to first, only for Russell to then work his way to the front on an alternative one-stop plan. Despite his best efforts to fight back, the seven-time world champion could not quite reclaim the lead and had to settle for P2 until his team mate got disqualified. Our judges, though, liked what they saw from start to finish.

Russell was the only one of the front-running drivers to opt for a different strategy by pitting just once, as opposed to twice. He steadily moved up the order from sixth on the grid as his rivals pitted and, as the crucial mid-point of the race arrived, stayed out and committed to the one-stop. It was an inspired move that marginally paid off, having crossed the line with Hamilton and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on his tail, but the celebrations took a “heartbreaking” turn with that aforementioned DSQ.

Fresh from his maiden F1 victory in Hungary, Piastri arrived at Spa-Francorchamps full of confidence and looking to add some more silverware to a growing trophy cabinet. While it was not quite another win, second place behind Hamilton – after Russell’s disqualification – represented a fine reward for the Australian, who had the measure of team mate Lando Norris throughout the race.

Charles Leclerc delivered a brilliant lap in wet conditions to secure P2 on the grid, which became pole position when Max Verstappen’s engine-related grid penalty was applied. He expertly maintained P1 as the lights went out and, while Hamilton soon moved into the lead and the Ferrari man eventually fell out of podium contention (prior to Russell’s DSQ), it was a strong two-day performance.

Daniel Ricciardo entered the Belgian Grand Prix weekend amid more talk about the futures of Red Bull’s family of drivers. He put that to one side to make it through to Q2 in a tricky, wet qualifying session and then pushed on for points in the race, inheriting 10th – marking his third top-10 finish in the last six races – when Russell was disqualified after the chequered flag.

HIGHLIGHTS: Catch up on the action as Russell and Hamilton duel for win in thrilling Belgian Grand Prix

It was always going to be a big ask for the penalised Verstappen to repeat his comeback drives of the past – including P14 to victory at Spa in 2022 – given the multi-team fight we are now seeing in F1. Nonetheless, the Dutchman calmly turned 11th on the grid into fifth at the flag, which became fourth, with his championship lead extended after he managed to keep Norris at bay.

Esteban Ocon looked like a man on a mission throughout the Spa weekend, having arrived at the track after settling his future plans by penning a new deal with Haas. He superbly made it into Q3 in qualifying and kept himself in the mix for points on race day, eventually coming home 10th (which became ninth), despite not being entirely happy with Alpine’s approach to the race.

Fernando Alonso was realistic about Aston Martin’s prospects ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, with Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all still out of reach for the Silverstone team. However, the Spaniard underlined his credentials with a determined run to eighth on the grid and eighth in the race, topping up the team’s points tally.

F1 NATION: A successful weekend for Mercedes despite the disappointment of Russell’s disqualification – it’s our Belgian GP review

Alex Albon continued to spearhead the Williams charge in Belgium, coming agonisingly close to a Q3 appearance (missing out by 0.003s!) before getting involved in a fierce midfield scrap for points. While the top-10 places were just out of reach, 12th marked another solid showing from the Thai-British driver as he repeatedly puts his car in position to capitalise on any drama ahead.

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Carlos Sainz, who will incidentally become Albon’s new team mate in 2025, is the final driver to make it into the top half of the list for Spa. A challenging Q3 session in those demanding wet conditions left him far behind the high-flying Leclerc on the grid, and on race day he had to settle for only a handful of points in a lonely sixth position.

ANALYSIS: How Williams won out over Sauber and Alpine to secure Sainz – and what it means for the rest of the driver market

Missing out

It was not the weekend Lando Norris had been hoping for in Belgium, with the Briton struggling for confidence behind the wheel of his McLaren despite topping Friday’s timesheets. A costly meeting with the gravel at the exit of Turn 1 saw him drop from fourth to seventh position and, from there, he found it difficult to recover lost ground in the dirty air. As such, he just missed the Power Rankings top-10 cut this time out.

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POWER RANKINGS: Which drivers impressed our judges with some brilliant driving in Belgium?

How it works

Missing out

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