Formula 1 returned from the summer break this weekend, fuelled by anticipation and excitement. Where better to get the action back underway than the infamous Spa in Belgium?

It was a rough start to the season for the whole Mercedes team, whose fall from grace has seen them trying to play catch up to Red Bull and even Ferrari.

George Russell is placed higher of the two drivers with Lewis Hamilton unable to compete with Max Verstappen for the Drivers' Championship.

He made some punchy comments in the media in the lead-up to this race, suggesting that him and his team were going to be there or thereabouts.

Qualifying didn't exactly go to plan, but nobody could have predicted what was to happen the following afternoon.

Hamilton made an aggressive dive down the left of Spaniard Fernando Alonso and next thing you know, the seven-time champion was up in the air.

The Alpine driver wasn’t particularly impressed by Hamilton’s overtaking attempt, saying the following mid-race: “This guy only knows how to start and finish a race in first place."

In all fairness to the Mercedes driver, he accepted that he was at fault here and took on all the blame.

This didn’t affect Alonso of Alpine, though, as he still finished fifth due to both his excellence and also the shortcomings of Ferrari and Charles Leclerc once again.

Going into the double turn, Hamilton hadn’t allowed Alonso enough space when being overly keen and he was the one to pay the price. As can be seen in the video footage, the tyres collide from front to back and the result is the man from Stevenage going airborne.

Hamilton was then seen slinking back towards the pits on one of Spa's service roads, allowing him time to think about what went wrong for him out there.

Meanwhile, his teammate Russell finished fourth and secured some much-needed points for the team.