Mercedes has been chasing major successes in Formula 1 for some time now. The former serial winner, who dominated for years, is struggling to get back on top. With a daring one-stop strategy, George Russell won ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in Belgium. But Russell was disqualified two hours after the race. At the final inspection, Russell’s No. 63 Silver Arrow was found to be too underweight. The minimum weight of a Formula 1 car is 798 kg, but Russell’s car weighed only 796.5 kg. Hamilton went on and in turn recorded his 105th career win.
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Mercedes wants to make amends
George Russell was heartbroken after his stunning Formula 1 win in Belgium was cancelled. “I am heartbroken to be disqualified from today’s race. It was an incredible Grand Prix,” said the Englishman, who at least felt like a three-time Grand Prix winner after a daring one-stop strategy of nearly two hours. “We will evaluate what happened and what went wrong. Losing a one-two is disappointing and we can only apologise to George, who drove such a strong race,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
Mercedes chief engineer Andrew Shovlin said: “We don’t yet understand why the car was underweight after the race, but we will carry out a thorough investigation to find an explanation. We believe the loss of rubber from just one stop has played a role and we will work to understand how this happened, but we will not make any excuses.” Hamilton, who had raced confidently at the front until Russell’s courageous decision to stop only once, is the main beneficiary of the disqualification. “I feel sorry for George, and you don’t want to win a race through a disqualification, but we were back in the fight for victory in the last few races,” Hamilton said, encouraging himself ahead of the summer break in Formula 1.
no objection
The competition had opted for two stops and was actually cheated by Russell in the final stages of the race. Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko praised, “I feel sorry for George. It was unbelievable on Russell’s part.” As the World Motorsport Association FIA announced, Mercedes already admitted in a hearing before the stewards that “it was a genuine mistake on the part of the team”. So a possible objection to the decision is off the table.
Verstappen leads the World Cup
After Hamilton, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished second and third. World champion Max Verstappen could only manage fourth. After changing the engine, he had to accept an early shift of ten places. After the race, he spoke of limiting the losses. Ahead of the race on August 25 in the Netherlands, Verstappen is confidently leading the Drivers’ World Championship. He has 277 points, the two closest pursuers are Lando Norris (199) and Charles Leclerc (177). However, Verstappen’s last ever win was now four races ago. The competition has picked up, McLaren in particular has been doing well lately.
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