28/07/2024
28/07/2024
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium, July 28, (AP): George Russell led a Mercedes one-two with Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix after pulling off an audacious one-stop strategy and keeping his teammate at bay to add to a thrilling Formula 1 season on Sunday.
Russell’s victory, however, could be in doubt after his car was found to be underweight. The race officials are reviewing the technical report regarding his car’s weight, with Mercedes summoned by F1 stewards.
If Russell is disqualified, the win will pass to Hamilton in his 105th GP victory in F1.
If Russell is not disqualified, this will have been his second win of the season and the third of the British driver’s career after nursing his tires expertly over the 44-lap race while all the rest of the top cars stopped twice.
Either way, it will have little impact on the overall driver’s championship, which Verstappen leads comfortably.
"Amazing result didn’t predict that this morning,” Russell said well before it was announced that his car was suspected of a possible violation. "But the race was awesome and the tires just felt great. I kept saying ‘I think we can do the one stop’.”