Home Sport ‘Heartbroken’ George Russell breaks his silence after being STRIPPED of Belgian GP victory following disqualification for his Mercedes being 1.5kg underweight – and pays tribute to team-mate Lewis Hamilton

‘Heartbroken’ George Russell breaks his silence after being STRIPPED of Belgian GP victory following disqualification for his Mercedes being 1.5kg underweight – and pays tribute to team-mate Lewis Hamilton

Sport — 30/07/2024 · 0 Comment

George Russell has broken his silence after being stripped of his victory following Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell appeared to have executed a bold one-stop strategy to perfection as he crossed the finishing line marginally ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

He then celebrated on the top of the podium before news of his disqualification came through hours after the race.

Russell was disqualified after his car was found to have been 1.5 kilograms underweight.

His car was initially weighed at 798kg – the minimum weight permitted for car and driver combined.

George Russell (right) celebrated winning the Belgian Grand Prix but he was later disqualified

Russell was stripped of his victory after it emerged that his car had been 1.5kg underweight

But stewards later found that the car had not been fully drained of fuel and the weight was therefore adjusted to 796.5kg.

Later on Sunday, Russell took to social media to share his reaction to an eventful day.

He wrote: ‘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.’

Hamilton was promoted to P1 as a result of his team-mate’s disqualification.

The seven-time world champion shared his thoughts via Instagram.

Hamilton wrote: ‘Mixed feelings for today’s result.

‘Obviously happy to get the win but I feel for George and it’s disappointing for the team not to get the 1-2.

‘A lot of positives to take from today, though.

‘At the start of the weekend, we didn’t expect to be at the front or the pace we had, so it’s great to see just how much progress has been made and that we are in the fight.

Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was promoted to P1 following Russell’s disqualification

Hamilton (left) was promoted to first, while Oscar Piastri (right) moved up from third to second

‘We take all these positives with us into the break and will come back a stronger team ready to keep the momentum going’.

Russell shared Hamilton’s post and added the message: ‘Congrats on the win @lewishamilton’, followed by a trophy emoji.