Mercedes suspects loss of rubber a factor in Russell DSQ

Mercedes suspects a loss of rubber from the long final stint was a factor in George Russell’s car being underweight and leading to his disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell committed to an unexpected one-stop strategy and managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri in a thrilling finish, with the top three covered by 1.1 seconds at the line. But Russell was then disqualified and lost his victory when his car was found to be 1.5kg below the minimum weight after the race, and trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin believes lost weight from the tires was one of the reasons.

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“It's really tough for George to have been disqualified from the win after such an impressive drive,” Shovlin said. “He did a brilliant job to hang onto the tires and defend to the finish. We don't yet understand why the car was underweight following the race but will investigate thoroughly to find the explanation.

“We expect that the loss of rubber from the one stop was a contributing factor, and we'll work to understand how it happened. We won't be making any excuses though. It is clearly not good enough and we need to make sure it doesn't happen again.”

The disqualification for Russell means Hamilton picks up his 105th win so Mercedes doesn’t lose out on victory as a team, and Shovlin says the overall performance was a real positive for Mercedes as it overcame a challenging start to the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

“It was a relief to have Lewis in second to inherit the victory. He also drove a strong race and was the fastest two-stopping car out there. We can be pleased with the car pace but overall, it's disappointing not to walk away with the 1-2.

“That is particularly true after such a good recovery from one of our most difficult Fridays, and following a race that was so well managed by the team. We'll learn from this and be back strong in Zandvoort after the summer break.”