F1 News: Mercedes Engineer Sheds Light On George Russell Disqualification Reasoning – And It’s Not The Fuel

The Belgian Grand Prix saw Mercedes driver George Russell disqualified after post-race scrutineering revealed his car was 1.5kg under Formula 1’s minimum weight requirement. This technical breach led to his disqualification and his victory being handed to teammate Lewis Hamilton – his second of the season.

Despite this issue, Russell’s impressive performance did not go unnoticed, after he used a one-stop strategy to finish just half a second ahead of the 7-time champion. However, the discovery that the Briton’s car was significantly below the permissible weight limit shifted headlines from his incredible victory to Mercedes’ big mistake.

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, led the investigation into the cause of the weight issue. His team analyzed the weights of various car components to trace the root of the issue, and they found that abnormal wear on several components, particularly the plank and tires, played a role in the car being underweight.

Spa-Francorchamps, known for its high-speed sections and elevation changes like Eau Rouge, notably compounds stress on these car parts, resulting in George’s disqualification.

“Obviously, very disappointing and unfortunate, particularly after he’d [George Russell] driven such a strong race to win from so far back,” he said on the team’s official YouTube channel (embedded above).

“Right now we’re trying to understand exactly what happened. A lot of that involves us getting the weights of all the different components, and the car can lose quite a lot of weight during the race. You get tyre wear, plank wear, brake wear, oil consumption, the drivers themselves can lose a lot, and in this particular race, George lost quite a bit of weight.

“Now, the cars started the race the same weight. Lewis and George were both weighed after qualifying, the cars were within 500 grams. George’s was the only one that had the problem and it’s because things like the tyre wear was much higher. It looks like we lost more material on the plank.

“We’ll collect all that data though, look at how we can refine our processes, because clearly we don’t want that to happen in the future.”

F1’s technical regulations strictly monitor plank wear, allowing no more than a one-millimeter threshold per race. This event echoes a similar incident at last year’s US Grand Prix, where a rule breach also led to the disqualification of Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The Brackley engineer had further clarification, defending his young driver:

“In terms of pace at the start of the race, it’s nil [gain], because George’s car and Lewis’s car started the race at the same weight.”

A big lesson to be learnt by Mercedes, it seems.