George Russell has been disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix following a post-race FIA investigation on his Mercedes car.
The Briton celebrated crossing the line just 0.5 seconds ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton at Spa to clinch a memorable 1-2 finish for the Silver Arrows.
But less than two hours after the race finished, the 26-year-old saw his third career victory snatched away due to a breach of the FIA’s technical regulations. The race stewards were made aware of the infraction after receiving a report from an FIA delegate.
Consequently, Hamilton has been promoted to the race winner following Russell’s exclusion, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri second and Ferrari star Charles Leclerc taking the last podium place.
The stewards claimed that Russell’s car was under the minimum weight required when it was assessed after the race. The car was initially weighed at 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required for all F1 cars.
However, the report revealed that after this, “fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed. The car was not fully drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality documents.”
The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was determined to be 796.5 kg – some 1.5kg below the minimum weight required. The calibration of the outside and inside scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor to ensure transparency of the investigation. The matter was then referred to the stewards.
Mercedes officials were summoned to visit the stewards at 5.10pm (BST) to hear the stewards’ explanation, with the Silver Arrows retaining a right to appeal the decision. However, a brief statement from the team concluded “acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.”
In addition to the top three benefitting from Russell’s elimination, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris move up to fourth and fifth respectively. Carlos Sainz is now sixth, Sergio Perez seventh, Fernando Alonso eighth, Esteban Ocon ninth and Daniel Ricciardo gaining a point in P10.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had lauded Russell’s “unexpected” victory after he managed to execute a one-stop strategy by lasting 34 laps on the hard tyres.
Russell had to fend off his team-mate Hamilton in the final laps of the race, but after nursing his tyres in the middle stint, he had enough grip to keep the seven-time world champion and Piastri behind him.
The 26-year-old had celebrated euphorically on the podium next to a downcast Hamilton, who appeared to be unhappy with how Mercedes’ strategy prioritised Russell.
But the incident will now bring a dark cloud over what would have been one of Mercedes’ best race weekends in nearly two years, since their 1-2 finish in Brazil in 2022.
