2024 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix Highlights

The Formula One paddock has made its final stop before the summer shutdown at historic Spa-Francorchamps for the 2024 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. Read on for Lance and Fernando’s thoughts following the chequered flag.

Warm sunshine greeted the drivers in Spa on Sunday, in stark contrast to Saturday’s damp and murky running. Fernando started the race in P8, with Lance in P15. Both drivers got away cleanly, using the Medium tyre for their opening stint. Lance pitted on lap 12, with Fernando making his stop a lap later. Both drivers then went to the end of the race on the Hard tyre, contending well with a combination of high track temperature and a freshly laid, grippier surface to execute a one-stop strategy. Lance picked up places via solid pace and strategy, finishing just outside the top 10. Fernando secured four crucial championship points, crossing the line in ninth place but classifying in eighth after race winner George Russell was disqualified for an underweight car.

Fernando Alonso

I am pleased with eighth position today and four points after a hard-fought race. We had a few different strategies planned for today. We extended the first stint on the Mediums, and then on the Hard tyres, we managed the pace quite well and had decent tyre degradation.

We thought there might be a chance of a Safety Car, and when there wasn’t, we thought, why not extend and remain on a one-stop strategy? This decision paid off, and we managed to score some points.

I am looking forward to a short break now and some time to recharge. We will continue fighting, and we have some more work to do to improve for the second half of the season.

Lance Stroll

It became clear during the race that the tyre degradation was lower than expected, so we elected to go for the one-stop strategy. We were running in P10 a few laps from the end of the race, but by that point, I was struggling with the tyres and didn’t have the speed to hold position. We were missing the pace we needed to fight for more today. As a team, I think we still have a lot of work to do to catch back up to the top four teams.

Mike Krack, Team Principal:

Four points following George Russell’s disqualification and via a one-stop strategy for Fernando and the team was the best we could get today in Spa. We managed to make the one-stop strategy work for both drivers.

Lance drove well, but we weren’t able to get him into a points-scoring position. The strategy worked together with the pit stops today, and we’ve secured a small reward.

We are moving in the right direction going into the summer break, but there is still a lot to improve on in the second half of the season. Thank you to the entire team at the track and back at Silverstone, who deserve a well-earned rest and then to come back fully recharged for Zandvoort with lots of opportunities ahead.

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