The Belgian Grand Prix delivered yet again as Lewis Hamilton won his second race of the season after starting third on the grid behind Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc.
It was Hamilton’s teammate George Russell who finished first in the race holding off late pressure from Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. Russell made a decision to go for a ‘1 stop strategy’ while others around him had committed to a traditional ‘two stopper’. Russell was thought to degrade his tires late in the race which would have handed Hamilton the win but the Britt somehow managed to maintain the strong race pace to hold off Hamilton in the closing stages.
However, his joy was cut short as the Technical Delegate’s Report stated that Russell’s W15 was ‘underweight’. The car was initially over 798 kg (which is the minimum weight of an F1 car) but Mercedes’ removed 2.8 litres of fuel making the car underweight.
The statement by FIA read, “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 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. 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.”
This led to George Russell’s disqualification from the race with his teammate Lewis Hamilton becoming the race winner. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was promoted to P2 with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium.
Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff was quick to acknowledge the mistake and labeled it as a ‘genuine error’ that led to Russell’s disqualification. The Austrian also apologized to Russell and ensured to learn from the mistake.
“We have to take our disqualification on the chin,” Wolff said. “We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure we learn from it.
“We will go away, evaluate what happened, and understand what went wrong. To lose a one-two is frustrating and we can only apologize to George who drove such a strong race,” he added
Following Belgium’s heartbreak, Russell stays 8th in the Driver’s Championship with 116 points. His teammate Lewis Hamilton climbs to the 6th spot with 150 points and Oscar Piastri (167) overtakes Carlos Sainz (162) to claim the 4th spot.
Max Verstappen increased his championship lead by two points after finishing 4th in the race and goes into the summer break with 277 points. Norris sits 2nd with 199 points and Charles Leclerc completes the top 3 with 177 points to his name.
In the Constructors Championship, Red Bull Racing are at the summit with 408 points with McLaren breathing down their neck with 366 points. Ferrari are third with 345 points followed by Mercedes (266) and Aston Martin (73).
Read More: 5 Possible Sergio Perez Replacements at Red Bull Mid-Season as the Driver’s Poor Form Continues
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
