The Belgian Grand Prix victory of George Russell has been referred to the stewards after post-race examinations revealed his car to be underweight.
At the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, Russell won his second race of the 2024 season. Lewis Hamilton, a Mercedes colleague, finished in second place.
However, it became clear following Sunday’s race that Russell’s victory was in doubt when it was discovered that his car didn’t weigh the required minimum.
Following the race, the FIA published a brief report stating that car number 63 weighed 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight mandated by TR Article 4.1.
The car’s fuel was drained and 2.8 litres were taken out after it was weighed.
“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 statement added.
“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.
“As this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the Competition, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for their consideration.”
As previously stated, following races, all cars must weigh no more than the minimum allowed.
What did Toto Wolff say about this?
If Russell is disqualified, Hamilton, who seemed to be upset with Mercedes’ two-stop strategy in the cooldown area after Sunday’s outcome, might win the BGP.
Toto Wolff, the principal of the Mercedes team, gave an explanation for their decision to pit the seven-time world champion, including Hamilton’s two-stop strategy.
“I’d like to have two winners today,” he said. “But we had to cover Leclerc and Norris because we would’ve been undercut, so that was the call. George had nothing to lose. We were P5.
“The one-stop and the two-stops were showing P5 so we just kept him out. He was very good. Lewis was very good.
“The strategy played for George, and not for Lewis. I’d like to have two winners today.”