In a dramatic turn of events, George Russell’s Belgian GP win was snatched away after his Mercedes was found underweight during post-race checks.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff openly acknowledged the team’s error, saying there were “no excuses” for the oversight that disqualified Russell from his much-deserved victory.
Russell’s car was discovered to be 1.5kg lighter than the minimum weight requirement, leading to his disqualification and the promotion of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, to first place.
Before the Spa stewards announced their decision, Wolff addressed questions about the underweight car. He dismissed the idea that their one-stop strategy was to blame, asserting, “We have to learn from that and as a team, there’s more positives today obviously for George, but that’s a massive blow to a driver whose childhood dream is to be winning these races that it’s probably taken away.
Despite the disappointment, Wolff remained hopeful about Russell’s future, stating, “But he’s gonna win many more.”
As the dust settled, Mercedes released a statement owned up to the mistake. “We have to take our disqualification on the chin,” Wolff admitted. “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.”
Hamilton, benefiting from the disqualification, was recognized as the deserving winner. “Lewis is of course promoted to P1; he was the fastest guy on the two-stop and is a deserving winner,” Wolff said.
Wolff noted that, despite the setback, there were many positives to take from the weekend. He emphasized the team’s progress, highlighting that a few months ago, the idea of their car being the benchmark was “inconceivable.”
Looking ahead, Wolff ensured fans and the team alike that Mercedes would return stronger after the summer break, saying, “We head into the summer break having won three of the past four races. We will look to come back after shutdown rejuvenated and with the aim of maintaining our positive trajectory.”
In the high-stakes world of F1, errors can cost dearly, but Mercedes aims to learn and move forward, keeping their eyes on future victories.
