George Russell has been robbed of his second win of the 2024 season as the Mercedes driver was disqualified for returning an underweight car to parc ferme.
Russell’s disqualification has lifted both Red Bull drivers to the top of the points standings, and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has offered his perspective on Mercedes’ crucial mistake at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Christian Horner: Mercedes made “a mistake in their calculations”
George Russell has spent years trying to turn a one-stop strategy into a Grand Prix win, and it looked like the Mercedes driver had finally achieved it when he crossed the line first at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately for Russell, his car was just 1.5kg underweight. A tiny difference, but a huge one in Formula 1, where every milligram of weight counts when it comes to finding a performance advantage.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was asked if he thought Russell’s one-stop strategy actually contributed to his car’s weight discrepancy after the race.
“Yes, absolutely,” Horner replied.
“I’m sure you would have lost more than a kilo of rubber. We saw it on Friday
“But you know, you have to carry enough fuel to make the sample, otherwise you’re using fuel as ballast.
“Very sad news for George, but it was obviously a miscalculation.”
It is a devastating result for a team that would have gained a huge boost in the World Constructors’ Championship thanks to its double.
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But Horner wasn’t the only person Sky Sports was able to contact for their opinion. In fact, they were able to speak to Charles Leclerc, who inherited third place after Russell’s disqualification but was unable to celebrate on the podium, before the Monegasque driver left the circuit.
Leclerc perhaps had a more charitable view of the whole affair.
“They did an incredible job today, and it’s not the weight difference; they won because they were the stronger team today,” Leclerc said.
“Obviously, in this kind of thing it is difficult to make an exception and it is understandable that they were disqualified.
“It’s a shame because (Russell) had done an incredible job, as had Mercedes.”
The disqualification will undoubtedly give the Mercedes team much to think about in the face of this extended summer break.
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