Belgian GP driver ratings: Why disqualified George Russell still deserves a perfect 10
It was heartbreak for George Russell who missed out on a win.
George Russell saw his win disappear after his DQ but it should take nothing away from an excellent performance.
The Mercedes driver made a one-stop work and although he has nothing to show for it, it was one of his best drives of his career so far.
Driver ratings for the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton – 9.5
Drove a perfect race with the strategy that was given to him. Speaking afterwards, Hamilton was clearly unhappy with the choice to go for the two stop, feeling there was more grip on the tyres being taken off, but it was a choice that would have worked out had his team-mate not performed wonders.
Hamilton was strong throughout, making light work of passing Charles Leclerc and dictating tempo from the front and was gifted the win due to Russell’s DQ.
Oscar Piastri – 9
The smallest of errors can have the biggest of consequences in Formula 1 and Oscar Piastri found that out in Belgium.
Perhaps as a result of his attempt to catch up those ahead, Piastri overshot his pit box meaning his earlier stop of 2.0 seconds was followed up by one lasting 4.4 seconds.
Passing would of course have been difficult but finishing 1.173 seconds off the leader will sting for the Australian.
Charles Leclerc – 8
When your car is lacking pace, the driver’s best chance to excel is in quali and Leclerc again showed he is one of the best on Saturday.
But come Sunday and it was a familiar problem as even Hamilton and Perez’s fight at the beginning could not prevent the Mercedes driver from passing his future team-mate.
From there, he was outpaced by Piastri and out-thought by Russell on his way to P4. Another pole that went unconverted with Leclerc having turned just 20% of his P1s into wins.
He was moved up to a podium spot due to Russell’s DQ.
Max Verstappen – 8
Not quite the burst up the field as we saw here in 2022 but Verstappen produced a good recovery drive to end the race P5.
Both he and Norris were locked in a near race-long battle that ultimately compromised their ability to get further ahead but the Red Bull driver extended his Championship lead by two points into the summer break.
Verstappen also finished over half a minute ahead of his team-mate who started on the front row, which speaks volumes.
Lando Norris – 5.5
We are starting to feel like a broken record but yet another poor start from Lando Norris has cost him. On a track that would prove hard to overtake on, Norris needed to hold onto his good quali spot but he did the exact opposite, running wide into Turn 1 and plummeting down the order.
That mistake condemned him to a race-long battle with Max Verstappen with the Dutchman taking the P5 spot at the chequered flag.
McLaren team orders won’t stop Norris winning the world title, his poor starts will.
Carlos Sainz – 7
Ferrari opted for a different strategy to the rest of the field but it did not pay dividends with Sainz ending the race in P7.
His team-mate’s quali heroics gave him a chance to score some decent points but P7 was probably about the best the Spaniard could have hoped for before the stewards got involved.
Sergio Perez – 4
Sergio Perez decided to mix things up this weekend by stopping his usual formula of ‘poor quali, good race’ and instead went for ‘good quali, poor race.’
He may have started on the front row but did so over half a second down on his team-mate in the same car and should have had enough to beat Leclerc to P1 in qualifying. Come the start and he was slow getting away, meaning he had to cover off Hamilton rather than attack Leclerc. That was the beginning of his slide down the order.
His only moment of note was when he was ahead of his team-mate but Red Bull spared his blushes by pulling him into the pits rather than make him move over.
Got the fastest lap but another awful race and surely one that will see his time at Red Bull come to an end.
Fernando Alonso – 7
While his team-mate complained of a lack of straight line speed, Alonso at least managed to find some to end in the points for just the second time in the last five races.
P9 is where Aston Martin find themselves now, clear of the midfield but well off the frontrunners. Frustrating times for Fernando.
Esteban Ocon – 7.5
Celebrated his new contract with Haas in 2025 but reminding everyone he can still produce a performance when needed.
The Frenchman, in his Deadpool-inspired livery, produced some lovely overtakes to hold onto his P10 quali spot and score his first points since Spain.
Daniel Ricciardo – 6.5
Flirted with the points spots but could not quite stay in them come the chequered flag but was bumped up due to Russell’s DQ.
VCARB are a team whose form fluctuates more wildly than a lot of the grid and that good run a few races back has been hard to replicate.
Lance Stroll – 6
Was not a big fan of the Aston car on the straight and fumed down the radio as a result.
Another no points score for Stroll.
Alex Albon – 6
If James Vowles is hoping to entice Sainz to the team, their recent performances will not be all that persuading. They were again off the pace in Spa with Albon only able to get P12.
Pierre Gasly – 5.5
Outshone by his team-mate who appeared to be able to find speed where Gasly could not.
Kevin Magnussen – 5.5
On a track which clearly did not suit the Haas car, Kevin Magnussen did at least manage to beat his team-mate and finish 15th for the second race in a row.
Valtteri Bottas – 5.5
Again occupying the Valtteri Bottas no man’s land as he finished 16th.
19 races in a row now that the former Mercedes driver has failed to score a point.
Yuki Tsunoda – 5.5
Having started 60* places back, Tsunoda was always going to struggle to get up the order but even still, P17 is a disappointment especially when Ricciardo was up in the points.
Logan Sargeant – 5
With Vowles openly courting Sainz once again, qualifying 18th and finishing there is not the kind of performance from Sargeant that will have the Williams boss changing his mind.
Nico Hulkenberg – 5
An off the pace race from Hulkenberg who found life difficult having qualified 16th. A bad day at the office.
More from the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix
F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates
Did not finish
Zhou Guanyu – N/A
Zhou’s race was over almost as soon as it had began as he lost power. He did manage to crawl it back to the garage but all the team could do was retire the car.
Disqualified
George Russell – 10
There are few times in modern F1 where you see a driver go bold with their strategy and have the skill to pull it off.
With the rest of the field around him pitting twice, Russell, who started sixth, kept his hard tyres alive for over 30 laps.
It was a remarkable piece of driving and Russell’s best win so far but it ultimately came to nothing as his W15 was found to be underweight and he was handed a disqualification.
That was a miscalculation by Mercedes, though, not Russell and a drive of that magnitude should stay credited with a perfect score – even if the P1 itself has been erased from the history books.
Read next: Explained – Why FIA disqualified George Russell from winning the Belgian Grand Prix
