ADDS LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was declared the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday after his teammate George Russell was disqualified, despite finishing the race first.
Russell, 26, was disqualified after his car was found to be underweight following the race, despite finishing it in 1 hour 19 minutes and 57.040 seconds.
"The car was not fully drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality documents as TR Article 6.5.2 is fulfilled," FIA Formula One Technical Delegate Jo Bauer said in an official letter.
"The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was 796.5 kg. The calibration of the outside and inside scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. As this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the Competition, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for their consideration," he added.
After a meeting between the Stewards and Mercedes representatives, it was confirmed that Russell has been disqualified from the race.
Following the decision, Hamilton was named the winner, McLaren's Oscar Piastri was promoted to second and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was promoted to third in the race.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the reigning champion, finished the race fourth.
Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu had to retire from the race due to a hydraulic issue with his car.
Verstappen tops the driver standings with 277 points, while McLaren's Lando Norris is in second spot with 199 points and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is third with 177 points.
Red Bull lead the constructor standings with 408 points, while McLaren are behind with 366 points and Ferrari are third with 345 points.