SPA: Rivals Outscored but Team Wanting More

Two double points finishes in Belgium saw the Team extend our P2 advantage in the Constructors’ Championship. We left Spa with mixed feelings: encouraged by aspects of our pace, pleased with another consistent points haul, but ultimately knowing we didn’t maximise the weekend.

It was a weekend heavily impacted by rain, though Sunday saw dry conditions at Spa-Francorchamps. This left many teams in the dark about tyre choice, such was the limited running on a non-wet racetrack through Friday and Saturday.

Lewis had qualified just a tenth off the front row and was elevated to P3 by a gearbox penalty for Verstappen. "I'm really happy with where we're at," said Lewis post-Quali on Friday. "Hopefully the car is decent in the long run."

George started from P8, also hoping to make the most of the car's stronger race performance and traditionally advantageous tyre degradation over the 44 laps. His task became frustratingly harder after just one corner however, as he was boxed in behind Piastri's McLaren, which had tangled with Sainz.

"I lost four positions, which was a shame. I think I would have been right there with Lewis and Charles at the end, which would have been nice," he said.

Lewis was able to get away in a leading four with Perez, Leclerc and Verstappen for company, but wasn't able to hold off the latter as the first pit stop window approached. The gap and pace of the leading quartet did mean that when Lewis made his first stop, he was able to re-join still in fourth.

Having started on the Mediums, George did a superb job managing his tyres on the planned one-stop strategy, and switched to the Softs halfway through the race. From P15 he quickly reeled off the cars in front of him with some clean overtaking and was back into P6 once the second round of stops had finished.

Further ahead, Lewis was also managing his tyres in an attempt to chase down Leclerc after an unsuccessful undercut attempt for the final podium spot. With laps running out the Team made the decision to box and go for the extra point for the fastest lap, which Lewis duly claimed - an important bonus point in our fight for P2 in the Constructors'.

If we had come out ahead [after the undercut] I think we could have held it.

Toto Wolff

"If we had come out ahead [after the undercut] I think we could have held it," explained Toto.

"The top speed in the straight line wasn't enough to overtake. So, in that respect, at least take another point," he added.

The proximity to P2 in the closing stages was something else that gave the Boss optimism looking forward.

"Before that last stop we were within six, eight seconds of Perez and Leclerc. That is a major step for us."

P4 and P6 at the flag takes us into the break with a 51-point advantage over Aston Martin in third.

The top speed in the straight line wasn’t enough to overtake. So, in that respect, at least take another point.

Toto Wolff

We'd put three more points on our closest competitors in Saturday's Sprint race following a P7 for Lewis and P8 for George in a race started behind the Safety Car and heavily impacted by rain. Lewis had crossed the line in P4, but was assessed a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Perez.

George meanwhile had recovered from P12 after the whole field switched from Wet to Intermediate tyres at the beginning of the race, again demonstrating the potential of W14 in racing conditions.

"Yeah relatively satisfied. I think for a six-lap race or whatever it was, we overtook four cars. I think we were the quickest on track after Max."

And now for summer break? Well, not quite. Our Team returns to Brackley with one more week of pushing ahead of Shutdown, and we'll be sure to analyse every inch of data as much as we can to make sure we're ready to hit the ground running again at the end of August.

We’re going to be pushing like crazy in the second half of the season. So be ready.

Lewis Hamilton

For the driver's and fans though, three weeks without racing now lies ahead.

"Thank you so much to the fans for bringing the energy wherever we go," said Lewis.

Enjoy the summer break with your families, we're going to be pushing like crazy in the second half of the season. So be ready."

Belgian Grand Prix Results