MERCEDES HAS BEEN FINED BY FIA FOR UNSAFE RELEASE AT SPA

 

FIA PUNISH LEWIS HAMILTON AFTER DRAMATIC GEORGE RUSSELL COLLISION AT BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Lewis Hamilton has been punished by the FIA after a dramatic collision with George Russell at the Belgian Grand Prix.

George Russell was involved in a dramatic collision on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamiliton, leading to a punishment for the seven-time world champion.

The Mercedes driver has seen his bid for the 2026 drivers’ championship take another hit as he has had to retire from the race this weekend at Spa.

It means that he will receive no points for his world championship bid, seeing him lose ground on his teammate and title rival Kimi Antonelli if the Italian driver were to finish the race.

Before the red lights went out, the gap between the title rivals was 25 points, but this is expected to grow if all goes to plan for Antonelli.

Hamilton appeared to be at fault for the incident; at least that is the reading from the FIA, as they have given the Ferrari driver a five-second penalty for causing the incident.

The seven-time world champion will now serve that penalty when he enters the pit, with his team not being allowed to touch his car until the car has been sat stationary for five seconds.

Hamilton was straight on the team radio to defend his actions in the incident, as he said: “Car crossed over in front of me. I was right behind another car, so I had no front end.”

Russell appeared to be quite emotional in his interview with Sky Sports after the collision, after getting back to the pits following the collision.

He said: "I just got totally swallowed up down the straight," Russell told reporters back in the Spa paddock, before Hamilton was issued with a five-second penalty by the stewards.

"I lost three positions down the straight down into turn 5 and then the incident was a racing incident. Maybe I could have gone a bit wider or he could have braked a bit more.

"The incident wouldn't have happened if I had the speed down the straight. I'm very, very disappointed."

Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was involved in a collision just a number of laps later at the same corner, as he made contact with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Leclerc would then progress past the Australian at the corner, and it appeared that this had an impact on the McLaren car as Hamilton, who was nearby during the incident, also overtook Piastri within a couple of laps following the incident.

However, while the seven-time world champion got a punishment from the FIA for his collision, Leclerc would not.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images

- Brendan McGilligan

TWO MORE DRIVERS HIT WITH SPA GRID PENALTIES

Isack Hadjar and Lance Stroll have joined Lando Norris in receiving grid penalties for Sunday’s Belgian grand prix after taking new power unit components at Spa-Francorchamps.

Isack Hadjar will join Lando Norris and Lance Stroll with grid penalties for the Belgian Grand Prix. Image: XPB Images

Hadjar has been handed the most severe punishment after Red Bull fitted his car with a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust system of the season.

Each component exceeds the Frenchman’s permitted allocation, resulting in penalties totalling 30 grid places and requiring him to start from the rear of the field regardless of where he qualifies on Saturday.

Hadjar acknowledged before the changes were confirmed that extending his run of five consecutive top-six finishes would be difficult this weekend.

“This weekend, I think another top-six finish is going to be difficult given where I’m starting from, but we’ll give it a go,” Hadjar told Canal+.

“The main focus will be on race pace. It won’t be as much about qualifying performance, because we already know what to expect.

“We’ll probably start 22nd on the grid, but Spa is a track where you can overtake. A lot can happen, and we know we’ve got decent race pace. So I’m expecting to have some fun on Sunday.”

Hadjar’s hopes of recovering through the field will depend heavily on Red Bull’s race pace as he attempts to continue his recent run of form.

His teammate Max Verstappen has also received a new engine, turbocharger and exhaust this weekend but remains within his permitted allocation and will avoid a penalty.

Stroll will meanwhile drop 10 places from wherever he qualifies after Aston Martin installed a new MGU-K on his car.

The Canadian’s penalty may have less of an impact than those facing Hadjar and Norris, with Aston Martin expecting Spa to be one of its most difficult events of the season.

Norris’ 10-place penalty was confirmed on Thursday after McLaren introduced a fourth power electronics unit on the reigning world champion’s car.

The 26-year-old had already exhausted his permitted allocation following several failures during the opening nine rounds, making a penalty effectively unavoidable.

Spa is traditionally regarded as one of the better circuits at which to serve an engine penalty due to its long straights and greater number of overtaking opportunities compared with many other venues.

- Ben Waterworth

LEWIS HAMILTON TO START FROM PIT LANE AT SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

HOUSE AT EAU ROUGE IS ALMOST 100 YEARS OLD | SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

 

SPA'S QUALIFYING RECORD

 

F1 - PIASTRI TOPS SINGLE PRACTICE SESSION IN BELGIUM AHEAD OF VERSTAPPEN AND NORRIS

F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri set the fastest lap of the sole practice for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, with the Australian beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by four tenths of a second and McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by a further tenth.  

At the start of the session, Carlos Sainz ran into trouble almost as soon as running got underway and he limped his Williams back to the pit lane where his mechanics began to work on what was later revealed to be a fuel system problem. 

Lando Norris took an early top spot but Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen moved to P1 on Medium tyres with a time of 1:45.545. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli got to within three hundredths of a second of the Dutchman but Oscar Piastri then moved past Verstappen with a Hard-tyre time of 1:44.979. 

The Red Bull driver was soon back on top as he put in a lap of 1:44.236 but with a little over 20 minutes gone Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc went 0.088s quicker to take top spot on Hard tyres with a lap of 1:44.148. On the half hour Piastri also moved past Verstappen to take second place, just 0.005s off Leclerc. 

With a little under 10 minutes remaining Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll bolted on a set of Soft tyres and jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:43.112. Piastri soon breezed past that time, going almost a second quicker with a lap of 1:42.123, almost a second clear as Fernando Alonso moved to third place in the other Aston, 0.997s off top spot. 

Verstappen then jumped to second place on 1:42.653, half a second off Piastri. Leclerc moved to third almost three tenthsBehind the top three, Russell kept hold of fourth ahead of Leclerc, with Antonelli ending the session in sixth place. Lewis Hamilton was seventh in the other Ferrari with Stroll eighth ahead of team-mate Alonso and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. Sainz returned to the track in the second half of the session to eventually rise to P11 ahead of Williams team-mate Alex Albon. 

 behind the Dutch driver, but the Ferrari driver was ousted by Mercedes’ George Russell and then dropped back a further place by Norris. 

The McLaren driver put in a lap of 1:42.426 with a later second flyer after being forced to abandon his first attempt when he dipped a wheel into the gravel. 

Piastri and Verstappen also put in late flyers and the Australian improved to 1:42.022 to seal top spot ahead of the Dutchman. The Red Bull driver outpaced the McLaren driver across the flat-out first sector, posting a purple time, but in the more technical second sector he shed eight tenths of a sector versus the Australian to eventually finish four tenths off top spot. 

Behind the top three, Russell kept hold of fourth ahead of Leclerc, with Antonelli ending the session in sixth place. Lewis Hamilton was seventh in the other Ferrari with Stroll eighth ahead of team-mate Alonso and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. Sainz returned to the track in the second half of the session to eventually rise to P11 ahead of Williams team-mate Alex Albon. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:42.022 23 247.146

2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:42.426 0.404 23 246.171

3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:42.526 0.504 22 245.931

4 George Russell Mercedes 1:42.598 0.576 27 245.759

5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:42.928 0.906 22 244.971

6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:42.979 0.957 23 244.849

7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:43.085 1.063 24 244.598

8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.112 1.090 17 244.534

9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.120 1.098 22 244.515

10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:43.122 1.100 19 244.510

11 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:43.217 1.195 16 244.285

12 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:43.261 1.239 24 244.181

13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:43.262 1.240 25 244.178

14 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:43.470 1.448 20 243.688

15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:43.478 1.456 21 243.669

16 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:43.570 1.548 22 243.452

17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:43.929 1.907 21 242.611

18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:44.492 2.470 23 241.304

19 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:44.847 2.825 21 240.487

20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:45.077 3.055 22 239.961

- FIA

DUTCH TEENAGER VAN'T HOFF DIES IN CRASH AT SPA

Dutch teenager Dilano van't Hoff died in an accident during a wet Formula Regional European Championship race at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Saturday, his team said.

The 18-year-old, who won the 2021 Spanish F4 championship, was racing for the Dutch MP Motorsport outfit at the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.

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