Following a superb drive to victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, George Russell has been disqualified.
Starting 6th, he overtook Lando Norris at the start and continued to run in P5 throughout the first stint. He passed Pérez during the second stint, moving him into 4th.
The 26-year-old wanted to try a 1-stop, and he did. Russell magnificently held off Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps on far older tyres, claiming what he thought would be his third Grand Prix win.
However, the Mercedes driver faced a painful ending as he was stripped of it. His car was found to be under the minimum weight. Due to doing a one-stopper, his tyre degradation was very high, costing him valuable weight when his car was checked after the race.
Russell’s W15 was 1.5kg below the minimum weight. At Spa, drivers immediately pull into the pit lane after the race, meaning the British driver could not pick up some rubber on the way in like they normally do.
FIA document (referral)
“After the Race, car number 63 was weighed and its weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1.
“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 as TR Article 6.5.2 is fulfiled.
“The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was 796.5kg. The calibraťion 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.”
FIA document (disqualification)
“The Stewards heard from the team representative of Car 63 (George Russell), the FIA Technical Delegate, the FIA Single Seater Director and the FIA Single Seater Technical Director.”
“Car 63 was weighed on the FIA inside and outside scales with both scales showinghe same result of 796.5 kg. The calibration of both scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.
“During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. 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 Regulationshas been breached and therefore the standard penalty for such an infringementneeds to be applied.”
Lewis Hamilton takes the win, his 105th in F1, extending his record over Michael Schumacher to 14. Oscar Piastri is now P2, with Charles Leclerc promoted to the podium in 3rd.
Daniel Ricciardo is also a big beneficiary, moving into the points as he takes P10.
