FIA takes victory from Russell and awards it to Hamilton

(Patria) - George Russell lost his victory at the Belgian Grand Prix due to a car that was too light after FIA's technical inspection showed the car was 1.5 kg below the allowed minimum weight of 798 kg, reports MaxF1.

Russell crossed the finish line first at "Spa Francorchamps" after an unexpected one-stop strategy, holding off teammate Lewis Hamilton who caught up in the final stages of the race.

But the FIA's usual post-race technical checks revealed that the car still had too much fuel in it when it was drained to the limit of 798 kg. After the remainder was removed from the car, the weight dropped to 796.5 kg.

“After the race, car number 63 was weighed and its weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight stipulated by Article 4.1 of the Technical Regulations,” the FIA report states.

“Subsequently, fuel was drained from the car and 2.8 liters of fuel were removed. The car was not completely emptied in accordance with the draining procedure provided by the team in its legality documents.

The car was weighed again on the FIA's internal and external scales and the weight was 796.5 kg. The calibration of the external and internal scales was confirmed and the competitor witnessed this.

Since this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight required by Article 4.1 of the Technical Regulations, which must also be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for consideration.”

With this outcome, Hamilton achieved his second victory of the season and 105th in Formula 1, and this is his fifth triumph in Belgium after winning with McLaren in 2010 and with Mercedes in 2015, 2017, and 2020.

There are no changes in the title fight between Verstappen and Norris due to this result, as both received two additional points.

But McLaren reduced Red Bull's lead by an additional point, as Piastri received three more points, and other drivers from those two teams received two more points each.