Hamilton flies off the line and beats Perez to turn one in Belgium

Lewis Hamilton flew off the start line in the Belgian Grand Prix and beat Sergio Perez to the first corner. The British driver then took the lead of the race on lap three by overtaking Charles Leclerc. It's just the second time he has led a race in the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Hamilton got off the line very quickly in Belgium. The Brit started from third place on the grid and held the inside line at turn one. Hamilton and Perez then went side-by-side, but Hamilton moved ahead just before Eau Rouge.

Hamilton remained in close distance to pole-sitter Charles Leclerc through the opening laps, and then made a move for the lead using DRS. The Brit got ahead without too much trouble and escaped the DRS range by lap six.

Meanwhile at the start, Verstappen was already in P9 at the end of the opening lap, and he made easy work on Alonso to put Norris in his sights almost immediately. Follow the action with the liveblog on GPblog.