George Russell Joins Michael Schumacher in an Unwanted List With His Disqualification From Belgian GP

Despite a stunning drive to cross the chequered flag in P1, George Russell was disqualified from the Belgian GP after his W15 was found to be underweight by the FIA Stewards. Russell being stripped of a Grand Prix win comes exactly 30 years after Michael Schumacher was dealt the same fate at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Russell took the chequered flag on Sunday ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. However, post-race checks by the FIA’s technical delegate saw his W15 weigh 1.5 kgs less than the minimum mass prescribed by the Technical Regulations (798 kgs). Hence, the Briton was disqualified from the race results.

Thirty years ago, Schumacher, who was also a Mercedes-backed driver, saw his race win stripped at the Belgian GP. His Benetton’s wooden skid block had worn beyond the 1mm limit prescribed by the rules. The skid block was introduced just two races prior with a view of increasing ride height and eliminating the advantages of ground effects aerodynamics.

George Russell become the first driver in 30 years – since Michael Schumacher in the 1994 Belgian GP, at the very same track as today in Spa – who get disqualified from a race win.
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Russell’s disqualification is the first time a Grand Prix winner has been removed from the final classifications since Schumacher that afternoon in the Ardennes. After Schumacher’s disqualification, title rival Damon Hill inherited the Belgian GP win that year.

Despite Schumacher’s failure to win at Spa because of his penalty, it did not cost him the championship. After the final race at the Adelaide Street Circuit, the German won his maiden F1 title after just edging out Williams’ Hill in controversial circumstances.

Mercedes takes the blame for Russell’s disqualification

The disqualification has been theorized to stem from the aggressive one-stop strategy Russell employed. Excessive wear on his tires meant he lost a considerable amount of weight in terms of tire tread. Following the conclusion of the race, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff put out a statement to take the blame for Russell’s disqualification.

Wolff wrote, “We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure we learn from it. We will go away, evaluate what happened, and understand what went wrong. To lose a 1-2 is frustrating and we can only apologize to George who drove such a strong race.”

Heartbreaking… We came in 1.5kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race.

We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first.

There will be more to come. pic.twitter.com/6RfucAqPyF

— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) July 28, 2024

Russell, however, was gutted by the loss but is optimistic about what is to come. “We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first. There will be more to come”, he said.