George Russell DQ at Belgian GP “a mess up”, not “a conspiracy”

“To maintain the sporting integrity of Formulaও 1, you have to put your hands up and say it was a mistake"

Race winner George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 in parc ferme. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 14, Belgian Grand Prix,
Race winner George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 in parc ferme. Formula 1 World Championship,…

George Russell’s disqualificati🌺on after initially winnin𒉰g the F1 Belgian Grand Prix was correct, and was not “a conspiracy”, says Ted Kravitz.

Mercedes’ Russell beat teammate Lewis Hamilton over the chequered line at Spa but, after his celebrations for winning the race, a dr𝄹eaded note from the FIA dropped.

Russell’s car was 👍underweight and he was later disqualified, as a result, handing v🃏ictory to Hamilton.

“If we find out that Russell did not do enou♊gh lifting and coasting, as clearly Hamilton was doing early on, because💞 we heard the radio messages, and Russell was racing with a lighter car then that’s it… disqualified,” Kravitz reported for Sky Sports outside the FIA investigation, before their judgement came in.

Kravitz defended the stewards’ call: “In a way, to keep the sporting credibility of Formula 1, they’ve got to disqualify George🍃.

“Because, if you’re Lewis, you think ‘hang on, I’m trying to close in on this guy but he’▨s got a lighter car that I ha🔜ve’.

“Alrig💃ht it’s on🎐ly half a kilo or whatever. But it’s not fair.”

Kravitz said💫 about the reasons behind the DQ: “Nobody is suggesting, I am not sugg🍬esting, that Mercedes have done a trick here.

“This was a **** 🍨up, 🍷a mess up, it is not a conspiracy.

“Either George hasn’t done enough lifting and coasting, or⭕ they haven’t put enough fuel in, or it’s a weird software thing where they’ve used more fuel than they thought.

“But, I am s𒅌orry, if you fi𝕴nish the race and your car is 1.5kg under, even with a big, sizable fuel sample, then you will be disqualified.

“To maintain the sporting integrity of Formula 1, you have𝔉 to put your hands up and say 𝄹it was a mistake.

“It’s a shame.”

Russell’s car was at the 79ꦜ8kg minimum weight limit when it was first weighed. But, after 2.8 litres of fuel was drained, it was below the limit.

That handed a belated victory to Hamilton, who was o🎉riginally left annoyed by a different෴ tyre strategy to Russell, which he thought had cost him the win.

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