F1 News
Why was George Russell disqualified after winning the Belgian GP?
George Russell manage to drive a great race at the Belgian Grand Prix, and was able to keep Lewis Hamilton behind after completing a one-stop. Yet, the Briton will have to give back his trophy he was awarded, as his he got disqualified by the stewards. GPblog explains why the Mercedes driver was disqualified at Spa.
Mercedes' celebrations were cut short after the Belgian Grand Prix, as the FIA's technical delegate, Joe Bauer announced that George Russell's car only weighed 796.5 kilograms, 1.5 under the limit. After a team representative of the German team was ordered to report to the stewards, it was confirmed that the Briton was disqualified.
After the decision was taken, the stewards published the following reason. "Car 63 was weighed on the FIA inside and outside scales with both scales showing the same result of 796.5 kg. The calibration of both scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. 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," the report concluded.