Formula-1-Winner Russell is disqualified later
George Russell cannot rejoice in his Formula-1 win in Belgium for long. His Mercedes is too light, according to an investigation. The Englishman is being harshly penalized. Russell won the race thanks to a bold strategy. The win stays with Mercedes.
The English driver George Russell was disqualified from the Formula-1 race in Belgium and inadvertently helped his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to his 105th career triumph. Russell's car with the number 63 was found to be 1.5 kg lighter than required after the mandatory weighing. The minimum weight of a Formula-1 car is 798 kg, but Russell's car weighed only 796.5 kg. Therefore, the race stewards disqualified the car from the results.
"During the hearing, the team representative confirmed that the measurement was correct and that all required procedures were correctly carried out. The team also admitted that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a real team error," the stewards' statement read.
Russell thus lost his third Formula-1 win, having masterfully decided the last Grand Prix before the summer break with a bold one-stop strategy. Hamilton finished second, just 0.5 seconds behind his teammate. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri finished third ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. World champion Max Verstappen, who had started the Belgian Grand Prix with the penalty of a grid position drop, moved up to fourth place ahead of Lando Norris in the second McLaren.
The Silver Arrows bid farewell to the peak of their resurgence in 2024 during the summer break. They have three wins in the last four races to their credit. The next race is the Dutch Grand Prix, which will take place in less than a month. "We take it race by race and see if we can continue performing at this high level," said team boss Toto Wolff.
Despite George Russell's disqualification due to his Formula-1 car being underweight, Lewis Hamilton still managed to clinch victory with Russell's strategy, marking his 105th career triumph using a Mercedes AMG. Unfortunately, Russell's win with the Mercedes team was overturned, leaving Hamilton as the sole winner from the Silver Arrows in the Belgian Grand Prix.
