Mercedes Unveils Initial Insights into George Russell’s Disqualification at Belgian GP

Mercedes unveils initial insights into what caused George Russell's disqualification

Mercedes discloses certain reasons for George Russell's disqualification in Belgium.

Mercedes has unveiled their preliminary conclusions that they think resulted in George Russell being disqualified from the F1 Belgian Grand Prix.

In Sunday's race at Spa-Francorchamps, Russell finished first ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, securing a 1-2 finish for the team. However, his triumph was short-lived as his W15 was discovered to be 1.5 kilograms below the minimum weight requirement during the FIA's routine post-race inspections, resulting in his disqualification.

Mercedes has identified several reasons contributing to Russell's disqualification, among them, the unexpected excessive wear of the plank.

"Clearly, it was a letdown and quite regrettable, especially considering he had delivered an impressive performance to clinch victory from a significant deficit," Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' director of trackside engineering, expressed in the team's most recent race recap video.

"We're in the process of figuring out precisely what occurred. Part of that effort requires us to measure the weight of each component involved. Over the course of a race, a car can significantly reduce in weight. This reduction comes from various factors such as the wear and tear on tyres, the plank, brakes, and the consumption of oil. The driver can also experience a noticeable weight loss, and in this specific race, George shed a considerable amount."

The vehicles commenced the race at identical weights. Both Lewis and George underwent weighing following the qualification round, with their cars' weights differing by no more than 500 grams.

George's vehicle was uniquely affected due to issues such as significantly increased tyre degradation. It appears there was a greater loss of material from the plank.

"We intend to gather all the relevant information and examine ways to improve our methods, as it's evident we aim to prevent such occurrences moving forward."

Mercedes maintains that the reduction in weight would have had a negligible effect on enhancing Russell's performance.

"Shovlin mentioned that at the beginning of the race, the speed is essentially zero since both George's and Lewis' cars kick off the race with identical weights."

Clearly, since George's vehicle was shedding pounds more quickly than Lewis' during the competition, there is a corresponding advantage linked to it.

"However, the difference amounts to mere hundredths of a second for each lap. It's quite minor, as discussing weight variations of just a kilo or two doesn't translate into significant lap time differences."

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