THE BIG PICTURE: Any one of four teams could have won this race. Any one of the eight drivers (well, okay, not Perez) on those four teams could have won this race. This season, which started so depressingly, has now become so epic.

EVENT: Spa fans always come prepared for rain. And never seem to mind it.

TRACK: Two sectors were repaved and in an odd way, it allowed the one-stop to work.

QUALIFYING: Despite the bad weather no real surprises to the two elimination zones, Leclerc does surprise inheriting pole after Verstappen takes his 10-grid engine limit penalty, kudos to Perez who finally comes through in the clutch and gives Red Bull a front row spot, while Mercedes and McLaren clump up the second and third rows.

RACE: What a thriller. You honestly had no idea who was going to win the entire time. And it was the closest top three non-safety car finish since 2016 -- 1.173 seconds.

START: Leclerc gets a great start while Norris gets a terrible start, Perez is a bit slow which allows Hamilton to muscle past which sets him up for the future, and Verstappen picks off some cars.

RUSSELL: This race may finally be the race which gets George to silence the critics that he can't win under dire pressure and can't take care of his tires. Consider the fact he pitted first and still made the tires last to victory and held off a faster Hamilton with brilliant driving in the key corners to keep Hamilton from getting too close for DRS to work.

MERCEDES: Now, we get to the part where Russell didn't actually win. All thanks to Mercedes' cockup. Or was it? Are the tolerences so tight in F1 that when a strategy is changed on the fly, the extra tire degradation losses them enough weight to fall under the minimum? Fascinating, if so.

HAMILTON: Lewis sure was despondent not being able to get by a slower Russell. Or was he despondent knowing the Mercedes gives him the best shot in 2025 ... when he's going to be at Ferrari?

PIASTRI: Oscar, why don't you like your jackman...? The talk about losing two seconds on that botched pit stop losing the race is ridiculous. He may have never been able to get by Russell (and Hamilton) any easier than Hamilton could.

NORRIS: His achilles' heel really is his starts. Lando needs to work on those reflexes during the break.

MCLAREN: Once again, strange strategy calls. But they have closed the constructors' race down to 42 points.

LECLERC: An inherited pole. An inherited podium.

SAINZ: Carlos finally made a decision. It was the best available one. And it will be fun to see him compare to Albon.

FERRARI: The first team to ever reach 10,000 points.

VERSTAPPEN: Tough to swoop into the lead after a grid penalty when you no longer have a superior car. Still, Max ran a strong race with what he had.

PEREZ: Unlike Sergio, who went from second to eighth (later seventh). More damning, he once again finished last among the eight drivers in the four fastest seats.

RED BULL: Let's get this straight. They have four active F1 drivers. A reserve driver who has F1 experience. A junior driver program. Yet, they can't find a decent number two?

ALONSO: Overshadowed -- for obvious reasons -- was the fact that Fernando also used the one-stop strategy. And it's no coincidence it allowed him to finish ahead of all the other midfielders.

OCON: Esteban also made a decision, signing with Haas. Not a bad choice considering how Haas has been doing. Yet, from Haas' perspective, you have to wonder how he'll behave with an upstart rookie.

ALPINE: What a colossal mess. Sure, Bruno Famin was technically interim, but still. Just one firing after another. People at all levels leaving. Hiring a consultant who was once suspended for life. Probably dumping their own engine to become a customer.

AUDI: Speaking of a mess. They also do a leadership overhaul. They bring in a big name, only to give him two titles, making everyone wonder what exactly is Mattia Binotto going to be doing. They can't find a driver willing to sign with a factory team. Their top choice bailed. Whoever they get now will have to be a second, or even third, fiddle.

SAUBER: Still zero points.

F2: Chalk up another feature win for Frenchman Isack Hadjar, his fourth (should have been fifth), extending his points lead. Did we mention he's a Red Bull driver? Just saying...

F3: Brit Callum Voisin is a first time winner, taking the feature race in a safety car dominated affair. One weekend left at Monza with Italian Leonardo Fornaroli in the points lead by one point over Italian Gabriel Mini who is five points ahead of Brit Luke Browning.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Underweight.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 1.5 -- The amount in kilograms George Russell's car was found to be under the minimum weight.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: It's not the first time a winner has been disqualified. It's happened five times before. 1976: James Hunt (Britian) for illegally using his spare car. 1982: Nelson Piquet (Brazil) for illegal water cooling brake system. 1985: Alain Prost (San Marino) for being underweight. 1989: Ayrton Senna (Japan) push start and cutting the chicane. 1994: Michael Schumacher (Belgium) for illegal skidblock wear.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @LightsOutF1Blog:

Williams' 2025 driver line-up has a combined total of 0 appendices. #F1

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: The moment George Russell realized he had the race won (ignoring the post race moment), "It was weird. Suddenly the tires and the car felt so good. I got into this groove. Once I was in the lead, no backmarkers or other cars in front, it kind of felt like you were driving in the simulator. I was watching the gap to Lewis and the rate he was catching me and I just thought there's no reason why we can't stay out and try to make it work."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Helmut Marko on Sergio Perez's race, "Sergio had the opportunity to take a good result from second place. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed." Oof!

SCHEDULE: A break. Sure we all need it. But then again, we're loving this so much, we don't want it. At least Zandvoort and the crazy Orange Army greet us on the other end.

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