Russell's car found underweight, loses Spa win to Hamilton

Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Chris Medland | July 28, 2024 1:15 PM ET

George Russell has been disqualified from the results of the Belgian Grand Prix because his car was underweight, handing teammate Lewis Hamilton victory. (who ratted him out,.

Russell originally won the race on an audacious one-stop strategy, beating Hamilton in a 1-2 finish, with Oscar Piastri third. However, the FIA found Russell’s car to be 1.5 kg underweight when it was weighed after the race, and Mercedes acknowledged it had no mitigating factor that could explain the discrepancy.

“After the race, car No. 63 was weighed and its weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by Technical Regulations Article 4.1,” a report from the FIA’s technical delegate read. “After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 liters of fuel were removed.

“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.”
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So which weight is "legaL? 798.0 KG or 796.5 KG...how about putting the fuel back in? instead of making it lighter so it can be disqualified
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After a brief hearing with the stewards, the penalty was confirmed just over two hours after the end of the race.

“During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly,” the stewards’ decision read. “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.”

Russell’s one-stop strategy saw him complete 34 laps on his final set of tires and, prior to the disqualification being confirmed, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted it could have led to more rubber being used that reduced the weight of the car.

“I think it’s a one-stop that…you expect loss of rubber, maybe more, but it’s no excuse,” Wolff said. “If the stewards deem it to be a breach of regulations, then it is what it is, and we have to learn from that. As a team, given there are more positives to take for George, that’s a massive blow for a driver when his childhood dream is to win these races, then to be told it’s taken away, but he’s going to win many more.”

 

Mercedes suspects loss of rubber a factor in Russell DSQ.

I bet there would be a greater pile of manure if it was rumored that we swapped car numbers and he was really driving racist Hamilton's car..... lol

BTW, a further controversy would be to ask how much is 1.5kg in stacked up marijuana joints?

Sam Bagnall/Motorsport Images ....................................Hamilton takes a hit off his large hand-shaped pipe.
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emailBy Chris Medland | July 29, 2024 8:15 AM ET

Mercedes suspects a loss of rubber from the long final stint was a factor in George Russell’s car being underweight and leading to his disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell committed to an unexpected one-stop strategy and managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri in a thrilling finish, with the top three covered by 1.1 seconds at the line. But Russell was then disqualified and lost his victory when his car was found to be 1.5kg below the minimum weight after the race, and trackside engineering director

“It’s really tough for George to have been disqualified from the win after such an impressive drive,” Shovlin said. “He did a brilliant job to hang onto the tires and defend to the finish. We don’t yet understand why the car was underweight following the race but will investigate thoroughly to find the explanation.

“We expect that the loss of rubber from the one stop was a contributing factor, and we’ll work to understand how it happened. We won’t be making any excuses though. It is clearly not good enough and we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The disqualification for Russell means Hamilton picks up his 105th win so Mercedes doesn’t lose out on victory as a team, and Shovlin says the overall performance was a real positive for Mercedes as it overcame a challenging start to the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

“It was a relief to have Lewis in second to inherit the victory. He also drove a strong race and was the fastest two-stopping car out there. We can be pleased with the car pace but overall, it’s disappointing not to walk away with the 1-2.

“That is particularly true after such a good recovery from one of our most difficult Fridays, and following a race that was so well managed by the team. We’ll learn from this and be back strong in Zandvoort after the summer break.”