After the vehicles crossed the finish line, a fantastic day for Mercedes at the Belgian Grand Prix was at least partially marred by the fact that teammate Lewis Hamilton had won the race instead of George Russell, who had been disqualified for driving an underweight car.
Russell, who managed to hold off Hamilton and Oscar Piastri of McLaren in the last circuits of Sunday's race, was the subject of an investigation following the event when it was discovered that his vehicle was underweight by around 1.5 kg, or 3.3 pounds. After a very quick examination, the stewards finally decided that the offense was grounds for instant disqualification.
"That there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team," Mercedes stated in admitting responsibility for the mistake, according to to Luke Smith of The Athletic.
Russell, who managed to hold off Hamilton and Oscar Piastri of McLaren in the last circuits of Sunday's race, was the subject of an investigation following the event when it was discovered that his vehicle was underweight by around 1.5 kg, or 3.3 pounds. After a very quick examination, the stewards finally decided that the offense was grounds for instant disqualification.
"That there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team," Mercedes stated in admitting responsibility for the mistake, according to to Luke Smith of The Athletic.
Russell had a courageous drive, choosing a risky one-stop strategy while the leaders of the race pitted twice over the course of the long circuits of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. However, his gallant performance was marred by the disqualification. The 26-year-old was fast enough in the corners to hold off Hamilton and a surging Piastri, despite the fact that he started to lose time at the conclusion of his 34-lap run on hard tires.
Hamilton won the race, his second in three races, after being disqualified. Piastri finished in second position, building on his triumph in Hungary the previous week, while Charles Leclerc finished in third place to complete the podium. Leader of the championship Max Verstappen moved up to fourth place while Lando Norris of McLaren leaped up to the sixth. Following in sixth and seventh place, respectively, were Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez, who completed the standings for the top four teams.
The other winner from Russell's disqualification was Daniel Ricciardo of RB, who finished in 10th position overall, behind Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Fernando Alonso of eighth place.
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