Mercedes launches investigation into Russell’s disqualification

Mercedes has committed to launching an investigation into the causes of George Russell’s disqualification at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell was removed from the Spa results after winning the race on track with a bold one-stop strategy while the rest of the field was based on a two-stop strategy.

Lewis Hamilton, who was less than a second behind after two stops, took the 105th victory of his career, with Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc completing the podium.

Mercedes believe the combination of the one-stop strategy, increased tyre wear, the lack of a safety car to save fuel and the absence of a traditional in-lap to pick up rubber resulted in Russell being 1.5kg under the minimum weight limit of 798kg. However, the circuit’s technical chief Andrew Shovlin has announced an investigation.

“It’s really tough for George to be disqualified from the win after such an impressive ride,” said Shovlin.

“He did an excellent job of keeping the tires in shape and defending them until the finish. We don’t yet understand why the car was too light after the race, but we will investigate thoroughly to find the explanation.”

“We believe that rubber loss from the one-stop race was a contributing factor and we will work to determine how this occurred.”

“However, we will not look for excuses. It is clearly not good enough and we must ensure that this does not happen again.”

Relief over Hamilton’s victory

Hamilton saved Mercedes from embarrassment by taking the win, less than a second ahead of Piastri after they had cornered Russell. Shovlin expressed Mercedes’ relief that the seven-time world champion had claimed his fifth victory at the Belgian GP.

“It was a relief that Lewis was in second place and could inherit the win. He also drove a strong race and was the fastest car with two stops today,” he said.

“We can be happy with the speed of the car, but overall it is disappointing not to come away with first and second place.

“This is especially true after such a good recovery from one of our most difficult Fridays and after a race that was so well managed by the team.”

“We will learn from this and come back strong after the summer break in Zandvoort.”