Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris say the same thing about Mercedes after Belgian Grand Prix win

Follow us on Google Discover

Kimi Antonelli gave Mercedes their eighth win in 10 races this season at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Antonelli was on course to win comfortably until a virtual safety car granted Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a cheap pit stop. Leclerc subsequently took the lead but only hung on until lap 34 of 44.

Leclerc kept Antonelli under pressure, and the gap at the chequered flag was less than two seconds.

Kimi Antonelli wins the Belgian Grand Prix! What was your main takeaway from the race? 🏁

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris both think Mercedes were beatable at Spa

Mercedes arrived at one of the fastest circuits of the year as heavy favourites given that chief rivals Ferrari are known to be down on horsepower. Antonelli’s three-tenth pole margin came as no surprise.

But while the VSC distorted the picture somewhat, both Ferrari and McLaren were encouraged by their pace in race trim.

Hamilton felt he had a race-winning package, but wasn’t able to put together a clean weekend. He thought he could have been on the front row without an FP3 crash that ultimately disrupted the balance of his Ferrari car.

Hamilton finished 17.2 seconds off the win but would have been far closer had he not collided with George Russell on the opening lap, which left him with a five-second penalty and significant car damage.

“I think we had the speed to win,” Hamilton told Dutch broadcaster Viaplay. “Anyway, I had damage. Despite that, my speed was great, but I did lose something like 50 points to downforce or something. Given the circumstances, I am satisfied with this result.”

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton hints he lost ‘confidence’ due to Ferrari’s changes to his car after Belgian GP crash

In an interview with Sky Sports (19/07, 16:47), seventh-place finisher Lando Norris, who qualified third but had to start 13th due to a power unit penalty, concurred that Mercedes were beatable at Spa.

“[It was] probably the best pace we’ve had all season,” the world champion said. “Honestly, I think we had pace to win the race today, which is very positive.”

Andrea Stella backs Ferrari to be fastest at Hungarian Grand Prix

The upcoming races at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort, either side of the summer break, will place a greater emphasis on cornering performance, rather than straight-line speed.

That’s why McLaren team boss Andrea Stella thinks Ferrari may be the team to beat.

“I think in Hungary, the Netherlands, we will see the Ferrari being back to probably being the fastest car. We see in the corners they are extremely competitive,” he told Sky.

McLaren are introducing an upgrade in Budapest that they hope will put them in contention. Their only victory so far this year came courtesy of Norris in the Miami Sprint.

Ferrari were also painted as the favourites for the Monaco GP earlier in the season, only for Antonelli to dominate the event.