Hamilton
Credit: Mercedes

Yesterday’s Belgian Grand Prix wasn’t a race for the ages, with Lewis Hamilton  dominating in yet another Mercedes 1-2.

But there were still some heart-in-mouth moments, plenty of sentiment for several reasons, and significant results for several drivers.

Here we view the biggest moments from the weekend which saw Hamilton move within two victories of Michael Schumacher’s win tally.

You can also see our race report and coverage from qualifying, FP1, FP2 and FP3, plus the championship standings.

Wakanda Forever

Hamilton was deeply affected by the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman on Saturday, and paid tribute to the American after his qualifying and the race.

Boseman played a host of prominent black figures in biopics, such as Jackie Robinson and James Brown, and also King T’Challa in Black Panther and the Avengers.

Given Hamilton’s – and Mercedes’ – commitment to fight racism in F1, it was a particularly poignant moment.

Old feud, new 

Renault’s resurgence was one of the stories of the weekend, as Daniel Ricciardo lined up on the second row of the grid alongside his old rival Max Verstappen.

The two had a brilliant duel as Ricciardo looked to have overtaken through Les Combes, only for the Dutchman to hold his nose in and then sweep back around and retake third.

With more high-speed tracks to come, we can only hope the pair continue to fight over the remainder of the season.

Overtake of the race

While Ricciardo wasn’t able to make the move stick on Verstappen, his replacement at Red Bull had a superb race with plenty of attacking moves, and Pierre Gasly eventually finished eighth on the alternate strategy.

He really animated the race and the highlight was this move on Sergio Perez early on – a white-knuckle ride through Eau Rouge alongside the Racing Point despite the Mexican aggressively squeezing him in the early part of the section.

Biggest crash of the season?

On a more sombre note, the race could’ve been red-flagged after Antonio Giovinazzi and George Russell were involved in a scary incident with the Italian losing control and his wheel, which then bounced across the track and collided with Russell’s front right.

It was a great relief to see both drivers walk away immediately afterwards, from one of the biggest crashes of the season.

Ocon passes Albon on the last lap

To round out a strong day for Renault, Esteban Ocon had been closing up to Alex Albon for fifth place as the Thai driver’s medium tyres dropped off after 30-odd laps.

Ocon often struggled on the exit of La Source and on the penultimate lap Albon was defended superbly, barking impossibly late, but eventually the Frenchman got his man.

 

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