Lewis Hamilton was handed one of the most dramatic victories of his career on Sunday evening after Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified for running an illegal car at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Russell appeared to have taken just the third F1 win of his life following a fascinating race where the young Briton rolled the strategy dice to beat Hamilton by just half a second.
But two and a half hours after the chequered flag fell at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and with both Hamilton and Russell already heading back home to Monaco, the latter was thrown out of the official result. Russell’s Mercedes was found to be 1.5 kilograms underweight.
Unfortunately George has been disqualified for his car being below the minimum required weight. Here’s Toto’s reaction. pic.twitter.com/a3qJLyrwr8
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 28, 2024
The stewards’ decision provided Hamilton with his second win from his last three appearances, and a record-extending 105th of his career, but denied the Silver Arrows their first one-two finish since the penultimate round of the 2022 season in Brazil.
“We have to take it on the chin,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said. “A mistake has happened and a one-two would have been a great result going into the summer break.
“We have to learn from that. As a team there were positives but for George it is a massive blow for it to be taken away. He is going to win more.”
Russell, still dressed in his Mercedes overalls, had just completed his media rounds – where he lauded his display as the best of his career – when he was told his triumph was in grave danger.
A report from the FIA’s technical delegate Jo Bauer published at 17:50 local time (16:50 BST) spelled doom for the Englishman.
Russell’s car had breached the regulations and all those at Mercedes knew it was a slam-dunk disqualification.
Ron Meadows, the team’s sporting director, was summoned to the stewards at 18:10 local time and, at 18:55, Russell’s fate was officially sealed.
