Russell crossed the line a mere half-a-second ahead of Hamilton with McLaren’s Australian driver Oscar Piastri backing up last week’s tremendous victory at the Hungarian GP with a superb third place, just six tenths behind the runner-up.
With the disqualification, Hamilton takes his second win of the season, Piastri moves up to second with Ferrari pole-sitter Charles Leclerc finishing third,
Piastri, who stands fourth in the drivers’ championship, said: “It has been a good couple of weeks for myself and the (McLaren) team and we have made inroads on Red Bull and that is massive.”
Max Verstappen started 11th following an engine penalty and crossed the line in fourth, one place ahead of a disappointed Lando Norris, to extend his championship lead over the British driver heading into Formula One’s four-week shutdown.
Mercedes are a team rejuvenated. Following a painful start to the season for the Silver Arrows, this marked the constructor’s first one-two finish since the penultimate round of the 2022 season in Brazil.
For much of this fascinating contest, it looked as though it would be Hamilton who would win after he started third, and blasted past Red Bull’s Sergio Perez on the run up to Eau Rouge on the opening lap before moving clear of Leclerc on lap three.
But on lap 26, Hamilton peeled into the pits for his second change of rubber with Russell calling on his team to consider a one-stop strategy.
With a dozen laps remaining, Russell, on ageing rubber, was seven seconds clear of Hamilton. With a handful of laps remaining, Hamilton was occupying Russell’s mirrors but he never got close enough to threaten.
Norris will be feeling this was a missed opportunity to take a chunk out of Verstappen’s championship lead.
Norris lined up from fourth on the grid, but a week after a poor getaway at the Hungaroring allowed Piastri to take control of the race and claim his maiden win, the Englishman was left to rue another bad start.
The 24-year-old held his position ahead of the opening La Source corner, but he dipped his rear-left tyre into the gravel which cost him dearly on the 220mph drag through Eau Rouge and into the Kemmel Straight.
Suddenly, Norris was seventh and midway through the second lap Verstappen - who had started seven places behind him - was just one position back in eighth.
McLaren’s strategy will also be back in the spotlight after Verstappen undercut Norris at the opening round of stops.
Verstappen stopped on lap 10 but Norris was not hauled in for his first of two tyre changes until lap 15. When he left the pits, he was six seconds behind the Dutchman and he did not have the pace to get back past his title rival.
