George Russell has had his unexpected victory at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix revoked due to a stringent regulation regarding the weight of Formula 1 cars when they are devoid of fuel.
Employing a remarkable one-stop strategy, Russell managed to stay ahead of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in the final moments of the race at Spa, following a period of dominance by the other Mercedes car.
Russell celebrated what appeared to be his third career GP victory, but shortly after the race concluded, a report from FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer put the result at risk.
The specific rule that nullified Russell’s triumph and awarded Hamilton a second win for the season is Article 4.1 of F1’s technical regulations concerning the “minimum mass” of each car.
This rule specifies: “The mass of the car, without fuel, must not be less than 798kg at all times during the competition.”
“If, when required for checking, a car is not already fitted with dry-weather tyres, its mass will be determined using a set of dry-weather tyres selected by the FIA technical delegate.”
In this scenario, only the first part of the rule is applicable, and ‘competition’ refers to any point throughout a race weekend. However, the issue of cars being weighed and found underweight is only pertinent post-qualifying and race, as they can operate in an illegal arrangement during practice sessions.
After the race, Russell’s car was weighed, showing it at the precise 798kg limit. Nonetheless, it needed to be drained of fuel, with enough remaining to comply with Article 6.5.2.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, 1st position, arrives in Parc Ferme
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
The regulation further states: “Competitors must ensure that a 1.0-litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the competition.”
“After a practice session, sprint session, and race, if a car has not been driven back to the pits under its own power, it will be required to supply the above-mentioned sample plus the fuel amount that would have been consumed to drive back to the pits.”
“The additional fuel amount will be determined by the FIA.”
In this case, only the initial part of the rule is pertinent.
However, according to Bauer’s report, and subsequently referring Mercedes to the Spa stewards, it appears that when 2.8 litres of fuel were drained from Russell’s car to meet the requirement of a 1.0-litre fuel sample stipulated by Article 6.5.2, fuel remained in the car, which is supposedly not permissible.
The report statement that “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” does not clarify if any fuel was still present when the car was weighed again.
Regardless, during the two additional checks with the FIA’s equipment, the car was found to weigh 796.5 kg, which puts it below the 798 kg threshold mandated by Article 4.1 by 1.5 kg.
Almost 40 minutes after Mercedes presented their case to the stewards, the announcement of Russell’s disqualification was made.
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, 1st position, in the post race press conference
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
The document from the Spa stewards stated: “Car 63 was weighed on both FIA inside and outside scales, both showing an identical result of 796.5kg.”
“The calibration of both scales was confirmed and observed by the competitor.”
“During the hearing, the team representative affirmed that the measurement is accurate and that all necessary procedures were appropriately followed.”
“The team also acknowledged that no mitigating circumstances existed and that it was a genuine oversight by the team.”
“The Stewards concluded that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations had been violated, and thus, the standard penalty for such an infringement must be enforced.”
As a result, similar to the case of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel at the 2021 Hungarian GP when Article 6.6.2 was invoked due to his car’s inability to provide the required 1.0-litre fuel sample, Russell has been disqualified from the final Spa classification.
Mercedes retains the option to appeal the decision, much like Aston did unsuccessfully three years prior, but given their acknowledgment of a team mistake during the hearing, pursuing that path seems improbable.
