Lewis Hamilton on Sunday emerged as the winner of a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix after Mercedes teammate George Russell, who took the checkered flag, was disqualified when his car was found to be underweight following the race.
It is the second win of the season for the seven-time world champion following his success at Silverstone earlier this month, and the 105th of his Formula One career. It was also the third Mercedes victory in the past four races following a poor run of results in the last two years, although they initially thought they had wrapped up a compelling one-two.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was elevated to second with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc moving up from fourth to third.
Photo: AFP
Twenty-six-year-old Russell, who started sixth on the grid, produced a stunning performance on the track, the only driver to opt for a one-stop policy that saw him nursing his second set of tires for 34 of the 44 laps. He was able to hold off Hamilton and the flying McLaren of Piastri, who finished third, to claim what he thought was his third grand prix victory.
However, his joy was short-lived as a technical report released after the race said Russell’s car had been found to be 1.5kg below the minimum weight limit for car and driver combined.
“Car 63 is disqualified from the race classification,” the stewards announced in a statement. “All other drivers move up in the classification.”
Russell’s car was initially weighed at 798kg, which is exactly on the minimum weight limit for car and driver combined.
However, stewards found it had not been fully drained of fuel, and when it was weighed again it registered 796.5kg.
“Heartbreaking,” Russell wrote on social media. “We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first.”
There will be more to come,” he added.
Leclerc, who started on pole position, crossed the line in fourth ahead of three-time world champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull, Lando Norris in the second McLaren and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari.
They were followed by Sergio Perez, who started second, in the second Red Bull, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon of Alpine.
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