Lewis Hamilton has secured his second F1 win of 2024 after inheriting it from his Mercedes teammate George Russell, due to his DQ.
Post his surprise F1 Belgian GP win at Spa-Francorchamps, Mercedes’ Russell was pulled u[ by the FIA Technical Delegate during the usual post-race checks performed in parc ferme. Initially, the Brit passed the weight test with the minimum weight of 798 kg.
But that was an error on the part of the FIA as it didn’t drain the required fuel as per the regulation. Once they removed 2.8 liters of fuel from the car, the weight dropped down to 796.5 kg after keeping aside the required liters of fuel.
They found the car to be short by 1.5 kg which was referred to the FIA stewards, who had no option but to disqualify Russell’s race-winning car from the Belgian GP as per the Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.
As a result, Hamilton inherited the destined F1 win after he was denied by Russell’s shock one-stop strategy which took everyone by surprise. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri moved up to second, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ending up on the podium in third.
The rest of the Top 10 featured as: Max Verstappen (P4), Lando Norris (P5), Carlos Sainz (P6), Sergio Perez (P7), Fernando Alonso (P8), Esteban Ocon (P9) and Daniel Ricciardo (P10). The other nine remaining cars too moved up by one place.
“The Stewards heard from the team representative of Car 63 (George Russell), the FIA Technical Delegate, the FIA Single Seater Director and the FIA Single Seater Technical Director,” the FIA stewards’ note stated. “Car 63 was weighed on the FIA inside and outside scales with both scales showing the same result of 796.5 kg. The calibration of both scales was confirmed an witnessed by the competitor.
“During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team. The Stewards determine that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement needs to be applied.
“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits. Decisions of the Stewards are taken independently of the FIA and are based solely on the relevant regulations, guidelines and evidence presented.”
Here’s how F1 Belgian GP panned out
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