Russell loses Belgian GP win over car weight issue, Hamilton new winner

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium: Mercedes driver George Russell has been disqualified and lost his Belgium Grand Prix win on Sunday, after his car was found to be underweight, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton is promoted to first place.

The car was weighed on the FIA inside and outside scales with both showing the same result of 796.5 kilogrammes, 1.5 kilogrammes below the minimum weight required and all other drivers move up one place in the classification.

“During the hearing the team representatives confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly,” the governing FIA said in their release. “The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.”

Russell had led Hamilton home in a Mercedes one-two after he opted for a one-stop strategy. The decision means that McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finishes second with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third.