Belgian Grand Prix Winner George Russell He faces disqualification Mercedes After the fuel was drained during post-race inspection, the F1 car was found to be underweight.
The Briton switches to a one-stop strategy to take his third F1 victory and puts himself on the hot seat Lewis Hamilton They maintained their lead until the end.
However, post-race inspection by the FIA found that there was still fuel remaining in the car when it was drained down to the 798kg weight limit, and that after the remaining fuel was removed the car’s weight was reduced to 796.5kg.
The FIA Technical Delegate’s report stated: “After the race, car number 63 was weighed at 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1.”
“Fuel was then drained from the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed. As TR clause 6.5.2 was met, the car was not fully drained, in accordance with the discharge procedure submitted by the team in its legality documentation.”
“The car was weighed again on the FIA inner and outer weigh scales and weighed 796.5kg. The calibration of the outer and inner weigh scales was checked and witnessed by the competitor.”
“As this is 1.5kg lower than the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1, which must be adhered to at all times during the competition, we will refer the matter to the stewards.”
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo: Andy Horn / Motorsport Images
Russell’s victory is likely to be void unless Mercedes can explain the 1.5kg difference between his car and the minimum weight requirement.
Article 35.3 of the FIA Sporting Regulations states: “If the weight of the car in question, when weighed in accordance with Article 35.1 or Article 35.2, is below the weight specified in Article 4.1 of the Technical Regulations, the car may be disqualified, except where the underweight is due to the accidental loss of a part of the car.”
This meant that Hamilton beat Oscar Piastri to win the race, with Charles Leclerc moving up to third place.
It is not the first time in Mercedes’ history that they have been disqualified for being under the weight limit, but at this stage the team has not been found to have deliberately misled F1 officials.
BAR had their results annulled for the San Marino Grand Prix after both Jenson Button and Takuma Sato’s cars were found to be underweight, even with a full drain of fuel, due to a secret secondary fuel tank being used as ballast.
Tyrrell was also scrapped for 1984 after it was discovered he had been topping up the water injection system with a mixture of water and lead shot throughout the race, putting him over the minimum weight limit of 540kg for an underweight 012.
