George Russell’s Belgian Grand Prix victory jubilation has turned into despair after the FIA found his car under the required weight during tie post-race checks.
Russell produced a brilliant race to make a one-stop work but that effort soon meant nothing with a disqualification for running a car that was underweight.
Every car is checked post-race by the FIA’s F1 technical director Jo Bauer and Russell’s was found to be under the minimum 796.5kg as required in Article 4.1 of the technical regulations.
Bauer said: “After the Race, car number 63 was weighed and its weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1. After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed.
“The car was not fully drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality documents as TR Article 6.5.2 is fulfilled. The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was 796.5 kg. The calibration of the outside and inside scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.
“As this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”
The sporting regulations say a car will be disqualified if it is underweight and it always seemed only a matter of time before Russell’s victory was erased from the history books.
After meeting with a Mercedes team representative, the stewards (Felix Holter, Mathieu Remmerie, Enrique Bernoldi and Loïc Bacquelaine) disqualified Russell from the race meaning he loses out on the third win of his F1 career.
Their reasoning stated:
“The Stewards heard from the team representative of Car 63 (George Russell), the FIA Technical Delegate, the FIA Single Seater Director and the FIA Single Seater Technical Director.
“Car 63 was weighed on the FIA inside and outside scales with both scales showing the same result of 796.5 kg. The calibration of both scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.
“During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.
“The Stewards determine that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement needs to be applied.
“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.
“Decisions of the Stewards are taken independently of the FIA and are based solely on the relevant regulations, guidelines and evidence presented.”
