Russell disqualified from Belgian Grand Prix

George Russell has been disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix after post-race checks found his Mercedes to be underweight, with Lewis Hamilton being promoted to the top step.

What was meant to be one of the happiest days of George Russell’s career so far has become a day to forget for the Mercedes driver.

Originally taking victory as a result of a brilliant one-stop strategy that saw Russell control the Belgian Grand Prix on 34-lap old tyres, the #63 has now been stripped of his third career win following the release of the Technical Delegate’s report. 

The report confirmed the discovery, saying the car was initially compliant in the first round of checks, sitting within the minimum weight of 798kg before 2.8 litres of fuel had been removed. 

“The car was not fully drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality documents as TR Article 6.5.2 is fulfilled,” the report stated.

“The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was 796.5 kg. The calibration of the outside and inside scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.

“As this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”

The stewards echoed the Technical Delegate’s findings, ratifying Russell’s disqualification.

As a result, Lewis Hamilton was promoted to P1, claiming his second win of the season under awkward circumstances.

After the meeting with the stewards, a document from the hearing was released.

“During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly,” it read.

“The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.

“The stewards determine that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement needs to be applied.”

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff took a mature approach to the situation, speaking before the hearing and saying the team had “to take it on the chin if the stewards decide against ourselves”.

“It is what it is, the mistake has happened,” Wolff said.

“We have to learn from that. 

“As a team there are more positives to take, obviously for George it’s a massive blow.”

Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc were two additional drivers who benefited on the podium, with the McLaren driver moving into P2 and the Ferrari driver into the bronze position.

Further down the order, Russell’s loss was also Daniel Ricciardo’s gain, allowing the Australian to take one point home after a hard-fought Belgian Grand Prix.

Image: Sam Bagnall / LAT Images

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