George Russell lost his victory in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday after race officials found that the Mercedes car was underweight. Lewis Hamilton, his teammate, was declared the winner instead. The race result was sent to the stewards for review when it was discovered that Russell's car, number 63, weighed 798.0 kilograms, which is the minimum required weight. After draining the fuel tank, the car weighed 796.5 kilograms, which is 3.3 pounds less than required. At a stewards' hearing, Russell's representatives acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team, according to a Formula One document. Consequently, the stewards reversed the race result.
Mercedes principal Toto Wolff commented before the stewards' decision, saying, "It is what it is, the mistake has happened. We have to learn from that. As a team there are more positives to take. Obviously for George, it's a massive blow." The race was intense, with Russell edging out Hamilton and McLaren's Oscar Piastri, with only 1.1 seconds separating the three. At the Spa-Francorchamps track, Russell and his team took a risk by stopping only once, making a pit stop on the 10th of 44 laps while other cars stopped twice. His old tires held up, allowing Russell to finish half a second ahead of Hamilton.
Hamilton tried to catch up with Russell towards the end of the race, getting within a second in the final four laps but failed to overtake his teammate. With this win, Hamilton now has two victories this season, following his win on July 7 at the British Grand Prix. Piastri was moved up to second place, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who won the pole position, finished third. Championship points leader Max Verstappen came in fourth. The Red Bull driver started in 11th place due to an engine penalty.
