SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium: Lewis Hamilton emerged as the winner of a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday after Mercedes teammate George Russell, who took the chequered flag, was disqualified when his car was found to be underweight following the race.
It is the second win of the season for the seven-time world champion following his success at Silverstone earlier this month and the 105th of his Formula One career.
It was also the third Mercedes victory in the last four races following a poor run of results in the last two years although they initially thought they had wrapped up a compelling one-two.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was elevated to second with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc moving up from fourth to third.
The 26-year-old Russell, who started sixth on the grid, produced a stunning performance on the track, the only driver to opt for a one-stop policy that saw him nursing his second set of tires for 34 of the 44 laps.
He was able to hold off Hamilton and the flying McLaren of Piastri, who finished third, to claim what he thought was his third grand prix victory.
His joy, however, was short-lived as a technical report released after the race said Russell’s car had been found to be 1.5kg below the minimum weight limit for car and driver combined.
“Car 63 is disqualified from the race classification,” the stewards announced in a statement.
“All other drivers move up in the classification,” they added.
Russell’s car was initially weighed at 798kg, which is exactly on the minimum weight limit for car and driver combined.
But stewards found it had not been fully drained of fuel and when it was weighed again it registered 796.5kg.
“Heartbreaking,” Russell said on social media.
“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,” he added.
Leclerc, who started on pole position, crossed the line in fourth ahead of three-time world champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull, Lando Norris in the second McLaren and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari.
They were followed by Sergio Perez, who started second, in the second Red Bull, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon of Alpine.
After Saturday’s deluge, the race began in bright, warm and dry conditions.
Leclerc enjoyed a smooth start from pole as Hamilton beat Perez to take second into La Source, where they battled wheel to wheel.
Norris had a poor start and ran through a gravel trap, falling to seventh behind Russell and Sainz as the early order settled while Verstappen gained two places to rise to ninth, having started 11th due to a 10-place penalty for taking an additional new engine.
Hamilton’s pace took him within reach of Leclerc on lap three when, using Drag Reduction System (DRS), he swept into the lead on the Kemmel Straight.
He stayed there and by lap five led Leclerc by a second ahead of Perez, Piastri and Russell with Sainz sixth, the only top 10 driver on hard tires, ahead of Norris and Verstappen.
Russell and Verstappen came in after 10 laps, both switching from mediums to hards and re-joining in 13th and 14th respectively before Hamilton, Perez and Piastri pitted one lap later.
Norris finally pitted on lap 16, rejoining eighth behind Verstappen with whom he battled until the end of the race.
With all of the other contenders pitting a second time, Russell became the fifth race leader and opted to stay out on the one-stop strategy.
Hamilton closed but instead of waving his teammate through, Russell was given the all-clear to race him, a potentially dangerous strategy from Mercedes as Piastri quickly closed on them.
With five laps to go, Hamilton was two seconds behind Russell and Piastri 5.4 adrift, the top three setting up a grandstand finish that saw Piastri close up to within two seconds while the Mercedes men tussled to the flag.
“We had such a disaster on Friday when the car was nowhere,” said Hamilton.
“We made some changes and it was difficult to know in the wet yesterday, but the car was fantastic.”
Verstappen still leads the championship race with 277 points, 78 clear of Norris. Red Bull top the constructors’ championship 42 points ahead of McLaren.
Formula One now heads into a summer break with the next race in Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25.
Underweight George Russell disqualified after Belgian Grand Prix win, Lewis Hamilton takes victory
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Underweight George Russell disqualified after Belgian Grand Prix win, Lewis Hamilton takes victory
- Russell’s car was initially weighed at 798kg, which is exactly on the minimum weight limit for car and driver combined
Neto treble fires Chelsea’s FA Cup rout of Hull
- It was an emotional evening for Blues boss Rosenior
KINGSTON UPON HULL: Chelsea eased into the FA Cup fifth round as Pedro Neto’s hat-trick inspired a 4-0 win at Hull on Liam Rosenior’s return to the club that sacked him two years ago.
Rosenior’s side took the lead through Neto’s superb first-half strike before the Portugal forward netted again after the break.
Estevao Willian scored Chelsea’s third and Neto completed his treble to wrap up the fourth round rout at the MKM Stadium.
It was an emotional evening for Blues boss Rosenior as he faced the club that ruthlessly severed their long relationship with him in 2024.
Rosenior supported Hull as a child alongside his season-ticket holding grandmother, played for the club across five years and managed them for two seasons.
He was sacked after narrowly failing to reach the Championship play-offs amid criticism of his team’s conservative tactics.
Despite the painful end to his time at Hull, the 41-year-old said it was an “amazing thing” to return to Humberside and he took full advantage of the chance to show his old club what they had missed out on.
“This club means a lot not just to me but also my family for many reasons,” Rosenior said.
“I do hope they make the Premier League this year, but because of our attitude and application, that is what gave us the platform to win tonight.”
Rosenior has made an impressive start at Chelsea since arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca in January, winning eight out of his first 11 matches in all competitions.
He made seven changes, with Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro among those to miss out, but Chelsea were still too strong for the Championship promotion chasers.
“Pedro Neto has been outstanding, he works so hard and has so much quality. I’m delighted to see him get the goals,” Rosenior said.
“The most pleasing aspect was the mentality. It was a really strong performance in terms of the mental application you need to be successful. Everyone worked really hard for each other.”
Chelsea dominated possession to such an extent that it was little surprise when they finally made the breakthrough in the 40th minute.
Liam Delap teed up Neto and he whipped a superb finish into the corner from 20 yards.
Andrey Santos’ towering header was pushed over by Dillon Phillips after the interval and, from the resulting corner, Chelsea doubled their lead in the 51st minute.
Neto’s inswinger caught Phillips flat-footed at the near post, bouncing through his legs without a touch from either team.
Chelsea had blown a two-goal advantage in their 2-2 draw with Leeds in the Premier League on Tuesday.
But there was no chance of a repeat and Estevao grabbed their third with a composed finish from 12 yards in the 59th minute.
Neto made it four in the 71st minute, caressing a low finish past Phillips from Delap’s lay-off.
Wrexham beat fellow Championship side Ipswich 1-0 in Friday’s other fourth round tie.
The Welsh club, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, are into the last 16 for the first time since 1996-97.
