Race winner George Russell disqualified from Belgian Grand Prix

George Russell has been disqualified from Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix after his Mercedes was found to be too light at the post-race weigh-in. Second-place teammate and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton was awarded victory, Formula One confirmed on Sunday evening.

Russell crossed the finish line first in Sunday afternoon’s GP at Spa-Francorchamps. According to the International Motorsport Federation, however, his car weighed 796.5kg, while regulations specify a minimum weight of 798kg. Stewards found the car had not been fully drained of fuel. The BBC reports that his Mercedes team called it “a genuine error”.

The other drivers have all been moved up a place as a result. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri takes second behind Hamilton. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who started on pole, now takes third place, while world champion and competition leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull, the winner at Spa-Francorchamps for the past three years, takes fourth

Spa-Francorchamps is the 14th of 24 rounds of the F1 World Championship. The drivers now have a month’s break before the next round, the Dutch Grand Prix on 25 August at Zandvoort.

^{Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Oscar Piastri on the podium at Spa-Francorchamps, 28 July © PHOTO IMAGO}