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From baking Budapest last week, Formula 1 heads to the much cooler climes of the Ardennes forest for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, the final race before the four-week summer break.
Max Verstappen still enjoys an immense 76-point lead in the world championship, but for once the three-time world champion is not the favourite for victory heading into the weekend.
That honour belongs to Lando Norris, who finished second for the fifth time this season in Hungary, having followed home his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.
- MERCEDES RACE WINNING CAR
- GEORGE RUSSELL PODIUM FINISH
- NICO HULKENBERG POINTS FINISH
Silver Arrows To Fly At Spa
There was no catching McLaren in Hungary, but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will be licking his lips at the much milder weather forecast for Belgium this week.
The Silver Arrows had won the previous two races heading into last weekend. George Russell picked up a somewhat fortunate victory in Austria before Lewis Hamilton made a fully deserved return to the top step of the podium after two and a half winless years at Silverstone.
That was notable because the Mercedes cars had qualified first and second, and controlled the race in the early stages before the rain came.
Hamilton's eventual win owed as much to mastering changing conditions as anything else, but Silverstone's high-speed, flowing nature combined with cool temperatures points to another strong showing in Belgium, where conditions should be similar.
Hamilton followed that up with another strong drive to third in Hungary and is tempting at the prices. However, team-mate Russell has been luckless since his Austrian victory and could easily bounce back at a track where he qualified second in a Williams in 2021.
MERCEDES RACE WINNING CAR
Russell Ready To Fight Back
Russell followed his victory in Spielberg by taking pole position in front of his home crowd at Silverstone.
He led the early laps of the race but couldn't match Hamilton's prowess when the rain started. However, he was still very much in contention when the car developed a terminal problem.
Errors from both the team and himself saw Russell eliminated in the first part of qualifying in Hungary, robbing him of any chance of a decent result in the race as overtaking is very difficult in Budapest.
On balance, Russell has been the stronger Mercedes driver this season, but even if he can't match Hamilton at Spa then a podium could still be on the cards.
McLaren became the third different team to score a 1-2 finish this season in Hungary, following Red Bull and Ferrari earlier in the campaign, and Mercedes, who last achieved the feat in Brazil 2022, will want in on the action.
GEORGE RUSSELL PODIUM FINISH
Hulkenberg Could Add To Tally
Hungary proved a difficult weekend for the Haas team, who lost ground to RB in the constructors' standings.
However, Nico Hulkenberg's sixth-place finishes in Austria and Great Britain bode well for his chances at Spa.
Both those circuits, like Spa, feature long periods of flat-out running, in total contrast to Hungary, where the high rate of tyre-wear also would not have been ideal for the Haas.
His 13th place in Budapest is Hulkenberg's lowest finish since he was 16th in the season opener in Bahrain, and it may be best to forgive that and back him to return to the top ten this weekend.
NICO HULKENBERG POINTS FINISH
