In a dramatic twist at the Belgian Grand Prix, George Russell has been disqualified after his Mercedes was found to be underweight, resulting in teammate Lewis Hamilton being promoted to winner.

Russell had initially claimed victory with a masterful one-stop strategy, nursing his hard tyres to the finish line and narrowly holding off Hamilton by a mere 0.5 seconds.

However, the celebrations were cut short when a Technical Delegate’s Report revealed an issue. Initially, the car met the minimum weight requirement of 798 kg, but after 2.8 litres of fuel were removed, it was re-weighed at 796.5 kg.

The report stated: “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. As this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1, which must be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”

Upon review, the stewards confirmed Russell’s disqualification. Consequently, Hamilton was elevated to P1, Oscar Piastri to P2, and Charles Leclerc to P3.

A statement from the stewards' hearing noted: “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 Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement needs to be applied.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, speaking before the stewards’ decision was finalized, admitted the team would accept the outcome despite the disappointment for Russell.

“We have to take it on the chin if the stewards decide against ourselves,” Wolff said. “It is what it is; the mistake has happened. We have to learn from that. As a team, there are more positives to take, but obviously for George, it’s a massive blow.”