Jun 18, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Mercedes driver George Russell (GBR) parades and salutes the crowd before the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports / David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

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George Russell has been disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix, losing his second victory of the 2024 season.

Immediate post-race inspections raised alarms when FIA Formula One Technical Delegate Jo Bauer detected that Russell’s car might violate minimum weight requirements, leading to an urgent review by the FIA Stewards. The official letter from Bauer stated:

“After the Race, car number 63 was weighed and its weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1. After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed. 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 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.”

After a meeting between the Stewards and Mercedes representatives, it has now been confirmed that Russell has been disqualified from the race, leaving his teammate Lewis Hamilton with the victory. The Stewards commented:

“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.

“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 and 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.”

Before this issue came to light, Russell was celebrating his second win of the 2024 season, with teammate Lewis Hamilton securing second place, marking what appeared to be a successful weekend for Mercedes.