The Belgian GP had more plot twists than an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Mercedes led the way not only in track position but also in fabricating a beautiful story that turned out to be a tragedy. An unhappy Lewis Hamilton finished P2 in a George Russell-led Mercedes 1-2 at Spa but soon inherited the victory with the FIA disqualifying his teammate. While he ended Sunday with ‘mixed feelings’, the race day had begun with a Ferrari twist for the 7-time champion.

Though the hype has died down, Hamilton and Ferrari’s future partnership made the most headlines in the first half of 2024. News of the Maranello outfit offering him $100 million was only superseded by Ferrari Chairman John Elkann’s promise to invest an additional $400 million in the Briton’s projects and charitable foundations. Elkann’s extravagant splurge was defended when he said, “I have always said over the years how much Lewis is a great driver, how much he has done for F1. He will join Ferrari and this is a sign of how much he believes he can do great things with us.”

His admiration for Hamilton was further displayed at Spa this weekend. The Italian magnate marked his presence in the Belgian GP paddock, accompanied by his wife, Lavinia Borromeo. The power couple took time out of their schedule to meet Lewis Hamilton pre-race, as seen in a video making the rounds on social media platform X.

This meeting could serve as a precursor for possible Ferrari-Hamilton discussions during the summer break. Whatever the purpose, it was a good move on Elkann’s part to deepen their relationship with only half a season left before they joined forces. Mercedes, on the other hand, is quickly deteriorating its relationship with the 7-time champion.

Lewis Hamilton loses trust in Mercedes after Belgian GP fiasco

Since the Monaco GP, Lewis Hamilton‘s mistrust of Mercedes has snowballed. Then, the 39-year-old declared how he no longer expects to out-qualify Russell, hinting at an intra-team bias. His under-temperature tires during the Canadian GP furthered his argument. Though everything appeared sorted after his historic British GP win, the Belgian brought back the same negative storyline.

Mercedes agreed to Russell’s one-stop strategy but didn’t convey this information to Hamilton. As a result, he lost the race lead and settled for P2. Before the FIA’s disqualification verdict dropped, the 7-time champion was still upset. “You have to put your faith in the people that you work with, so I put my faith in my strategist,” he began explaining. “I should be able to lean on him fully. I told him that the tires were fine, and they called me in. Did I know that I was at risk of getting one-stopped by my teammate? They didn’t tell me that,” he shockingly revealed.

His fans, often referred to as the LH army, didn’t let Mercedes hear the end of their mistake. Social media was abuzz with criticism for Toto Wolff & Co for allegedly favoring Russell yet again. For them, when FIA announced the DQ, it was redemption. However, this is definitely not how Hamilton pictured himself winning his 5th Belgian GP, but alas, controversy overshadowed what could been a picture-perfect end to Mercedes’ first half of the season. Now, Hamilton probably can’t help but count the days to 2025, with Ferrari promising him the best.