FIA confirm George Russell penalty after Belgian GP as Lewis Hamilton handed shock F1 victory

George Russell has been disqualified for having an underweight car after winning the Belgian Grand Prix, handing a dramatic victory to his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Russell pulled off an audacious one-stop strategy in Spa to finish ahead of Hamilton, sealing a surprise one-two for Mercedes.

But the British driver has now been stripped of his victory around 90 minutes after the conclusion of the race.

Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has announced that his car came in underweight, resulting in his disqualification.

As reported by Sky Sports, Russell's Mercedes weighed in at 796.5 kilograms - 1.5kg beneath the minimum weight required by the sport's regulations.

The car had initially weighed in on exactly the 798kg limit but fell below that once fuel was drained in accordance with the rules.

"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," read the stewards' ruling.

"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."

The decision ruins what would have been a perfect afternoon for Mercedes, with Hamilton starting from third on the grid and Russell from P6.

However, the decision may go some way to placating Hamilton, who voiced his frustration with Mercedes' two-stop strategy for his own race.

Speaking after the chequered flag, Hamilton said: "I was trying to get close to George, he did a great job going long on the tyres. Every stint I had tyres left but the team pulled me in. Unfortunate, but it is what it is."

He added: "You have to put the faith in the people you work with. I put my faith in my strategists, I should be able to lean on them fully.

George Russell has been disqualified from the Belgian GP (Image: Getty)

"I told them that the tyres were fine. They pulled me in... did I know that I was at risk of getting one stopped by my teammate? They didn't tell me that."

Hamilton now has his second victory in three races heading into the summer break, having won British Grand Prix earlier this month.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was promoted to second place following Russell's disqualification, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc moved up to take third.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fifth after starting the race in P11 following his 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the maximum number of internal combustion engines allowed in a season.

He remains the runaway leader in the driver standings on 277 points with McLaren's Lando Norris (199) and Ferrari's Leclerc (177) his closest challengers.