The post-race disqualification of Mercedes driver George Russell, who had been celebrating his third career win just moments before the news broke, has allowed Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc to improve on his P4 finish and achieve his sixth podium of the year.
Having won the Belgian Grand Prix by a mere 0.5 seconds, the elation of Mercedes’ Russell was clear for all to see in the immediate aftermath of the race on the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit. But excitement soon turned to bitter disappointment when the British driver was notified by the stewards that his car was below the 798kg minimum weight limit by 1.5kg.
Mercedes’ Team Principal Toto Wolff said that the team had “clearly made a mistake” while Russell admitted it was “heartbreaking” in a post on social media.
“We came in 1.5kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race,” he wrote. “We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first. There will be more to come.”
It has been suggested that Russell’s bold one-stop strategy may have caused the anomaly due to the excessive wear on his tyres.
The disqualification means that his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who had been close on Russell’s tail in the latter stages of the races, was promoted to P1. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc found himself on the podium in P3.
Originally published on Sunday 28th July at 6pm:
Despite starting from pole position at Sunday’s race, Monegasque F1 driver Charles Leclerc could only manage P4 at the Belgian Grand Prix, which was ultimately won by British pilot George Russell thanks to a daring one-stop strategy.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had qualified second, but was bumped up to pole position after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had set the fastest time on track, was handed a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.
The 26-year-old Monegasque driver thus began his race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the hot seat, but soon faced a challenge for P1 from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who will be joining Leclerc at Scuderia Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Hamilton took the lead in Lap 3 to become the leader of the race, a position he held until a pit stop during Lap 11, which allowed Leclerc to temporarily regain the lead. The following lap, however, the Monegasque headed for the pitlane himself, moving to hard tyres.
He pitted again in Lap 25 for a fresh pair of hard tyres, but rejoined in a decent position. By the end of Lap 36, however, he had been overtaken by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and was pushed out of the Top 3.
Unfortunately for Leclerc, who has been keen to make a return to the podium following his win in Monaco in May, the order was set.
The surprise winner of the race on Sunday 28th July was Mercedes’ George Russell, who had qualified in sixth and hadn’t initially appeared to be in the running for P1. Russell pitted just once during the race, on Lap 10, but was able to nurse his tyres and avoid a second visit to the pitlane, unlike the other drivers.
His strategy paid off and despite stiff competition from his teammate, who was intent on chasing Russell down in the latter stages of the race, Russell was able to claim his third career win by a 0.5-second whisker.
After Hamilton in P2, Piastri took third place. Leclerc ended in P4 ahead of Verstappen in P5.
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Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre