George Russell was denied his third Formula 1 victory by an underweight car that resulted in his post-race disqualification from the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver became the sixth driver in F1 history to lose a race win through disqualification. He had claimed a sensational victory on the road from sixth on the grid at Spa-Francorchamps by opting for a risky one-stop strategy, while others pitted twice.

Russell crossed the line just 0.526s ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with third-place Oscar Piastri 1.173s behind, yet it all changed approximately 70 minutes after the chequered flag.

The #63 Mercedes was 1.5kg below the designated 798kg minimum weight, as per Article 4.1 of F1’s technical regulations, after it was drained of its fuel post-race.

Russell called it “heartbreaking”, with Hamilton instead claiming his 105th grand prix victory. But who else has had their win taken away because of disqualification in F1?

James Hunt — disqualified from the 1976 British Grand Prix for failing to complete a full lap after a red flag

Official winner of the 1976 British Grand Prix: Niki Lauda, Ferrari

James Hunt celebrates victory on the podium. He would later be disqualified from the results.

Photo by: Motorsport Images

James Hunt’s first disqualification of the 1976 F1 season came in round four at Jarama, when he won by 30.97s. He initially lost that win because his McLaren was 1.5cm too wide and Niki Lauda was declared the winner, but McLaren appealed the decision and two months later Hunt’s victory was reinstated because the difference was minimal.

Hunt received another disqualification approximately two weeks later though, and this time it was for good. His victory at Brands Hatch given to Lauda after a huge first-corner crash where Hunt, and several others, collided with a spinning Clay Regazzoni who had attempted to overtake Lauda for the lead on lap one.

The race was subsequently suspended, so Hunt drove his damaged car back to the pits. But he was soon disqualified as he used the escape road on Cooper Straight, meaning he was not on the circuit when the red flag was waved and stewards said that drivers must have completed the lap in full.

But that decision was reversed amid fears of crowd trouble and Hunt won his restarted home race. That prompted Ferrari, Tyrrell and the Fittipaldi team to all protest his inclusion.

Two months later, Hunt was disqualified from the British GP, handing victory to Lauda, though the Briton eventually won that year’s world championship.

Nelson Piquet — disqualified from the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix for having an underweight car

Official winner of the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix: Alain Prost, Renault

Nelson Piquet. Brabham BT49D-Ford Cosworth rests on Keke Rosberg Williams FW07C-Ford Cosworth and Alain Prost, Renault RE30B on the podium

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Nelson Piquet was the first driver to be stripped of a race victory due to an underweight car, after he initially won the 1982 Brazilian GP in Rio de Janeiro. It is known as one of the most gruelling races in F1 history, as several drivers suffered in the soaring temperatures. Riccardo Patrese retired due to heat exhaustion.

Piquet was also struggling as he often propped his head on one hand, but the Brazilian had too much at stake to retire as he was in a back-and-forth battle with Gilles Villeneuve and Keke Rosberg for the lead. Piquet came out on top, as Villeneuve’s spin on lap 29 handed him the lead, while Rosberg eventually dropped back and settled for second.

The Brabham driver then passed out on the podium, yet it was all for nothing as he and Rosberg were both disqualified post-race due to an underweight car. The problem stemmed from the ballast water tank, aimed to cool the brakes. This would gradually empty throughout a grand prix, but then be replenished afterwards to pass post-race scrutineering. Yet both teams were caught in the act.

This resulted in Renault’s Alain Prost becoming the winner of the 1982 Brazilian GP, with the ballast water tanks being permanently banned seven months later.

Alain Prost — disqualified from the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix for having an underweight car

Official winner of the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix: Elio de Angelis, Lotus

Alain Prost, McLaren MP4-2B TAG.

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Although Prost benefitted from disqualifications at the 1982 Brazilian GP, he had his own victory taken away three years later for also having an underweight car — this time at Imola.

Running out of fuel became the predominant theme of the 1985 San Marino GP. Nigel Mansell, Stefan Johansson, Ayrton Senna, Piquet and Martin Brundle all stopped in the closing laps due to that day’s strict fuel limit of 220 litres.

Prost even ran out of fuel on the cooldown lap, with his then engineer Tim Wright telling Autosport that the McLaren was designed to be as light as possible — but the team did not account for any “loss of fluids”.

Prost’s MP4/2B was noted as 2kg below the 580kg minimum weight, resulting in a post-race disqualification. This gave victory to Lotus’ Elio de Angelis, who claimed his second and final grand prix win despite never leading a lap, while three other drivers led at some stage in the final five tours.

Ayrton Senna — disqualified from the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix for rejoining the track illegally via a push start from marshals

Official winner of the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix: Alessandro Nannini, Benetton

Alain Prost, McLaren, Ayrton Senna, McLaren

Photo by: Sutton Images

Senna arguably has the most controversial disqualification in F1 history, as he lost his victory at the 1989 Japanese GP for rejoining the track illegally via a push start from marshals — resulting in Prost clinching a third world championship that day.

The McLaren rivals were etched in a race-long battle for the lead until a collision on lap 47, when Prost turned for the Suzuka chicane just as Senna moved down the inside which forced both to go off.

Although Prost immediately got out of his car, Senna tried to resume knowing his title hopes would otherwise be over. So the reigning world champion asked marshals to push his McLaren down the escape road, allowing Senna to continue and eventually win the race after overtaking the new leader Alessandro Nannini.

But the Benetton driver was awarded victory post-race, as Senna received a disqualification for getting outside help and missing that chicane during the collision.

Senna believed he was disqualified because FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre wanted Prost, a fellow Frenchman, to clinch the title. McLaren later launched an unsuccessful appeal with the team also receiving a $100,000 fine, while a suspended six-month ban was given to Senna.

Michael Schumacher — disqualified from the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix for illegal skid block wear on his car

Official winner of the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix: Damon Hill, Williams

Damon Hill, Williams, won the 1994 Belgian GP after Michael Schumacher, Benetton, was disqualified

Photo by: Sutton Images

Michael Schumacher was the final F1 driver before Russell to be disqualified after winning a race, as he was also denied victory at the Belgian GP because of a worn skid block.

Benetton driver Schumacher delivered a dominant performance to initially win by 13s, but post-race scrutineering checks noted that his skid blocks had worn by over 1mm and resulted in disqualification. A skid block is a wooden plank underneath the car, which increases ride height and reduces ground effect advantages. It had been introduced only two races prior in Germany.

This handed victory to Damon Hill, who reduced his championship deficit to Schumacher to 21 points with five grands prix remaining, yet the German still clinched his maiden title that year following a controversial final-round collision in Adelaide.

Watch: Weight A Minute — The F1 Belgian Grand Prix News From the Paddock

In the immediate aftermath of the Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton questioned why he wasn’t afforded the same one-stop strategy that helped team-mate George Russell win the race.

It wasn’t just Hamilton’s side of the Mercedes garage that was caught out by the one-stopper suddenly being on the table. Of the top 10 finishers, only Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso followed suit.

The Spa-Francorchamps race was F1 at its unpredictable best, with Mercedes turning around a tough weekend to claim a temporary one-two, and the anticipated McLaren versus Max Verstappen battle for the win never materialising.

The race played out very differently to what people up and down the paddock had been expecting. It was thought that on the partially resurfaced layout, tyre degradation would be higher than in previous years, bumping the ideal strategy up to a two-stopper on medium-hard-hard compounds.

That would also help overtaking remain easier than on most circuits, meaning teams weren’t particularly alarmed by getting undercut by the car in front during pitstops because they thought their drivers could re-pass rivals on fresher tyres.

But after rain on Saturday limited dry-weather running, both the teams and tyre manufacturer Pirelli were completely blindsided by the lack of wear on the hard compound, which suddenly brought a one-stopper – which Pirelli predicted would be «off the table» – back into play.

Adding to the small gaps between teams, the shortened DRS zone on the Kemmel Straight and the ever-worsening dirty air effect, minimal tyre degradation made overtaking a lot harder and keeping track position much more crucial than expected.

In the closing stages Hamilton couldn’t get past Russell on much fresher tyres, while Oscar Piastri quickly bridged the gap but got stuck behind both.

Russell won the race on the road with a one-stop strategy, but was later deemed underweight and disqualified

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris also had more pace on his hards than Max Verstappen on the much less durable mediums, but couldn’t find a way past in the battle for what became fourth.

So if clear air was king, as Piastri pointed out to his race engineer, then why didn’t he or other drivers follow Russell’s lead?

«We considered that,» McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained. «We were not adamant that it was going to work.

«For us it was pretty extreme, because if you commit to this and it doesn’t work, you can probably screw up a race day.

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«It can become very, very painful because then it’s too late to pit and therefore you may lose a lot of positions.»

Stella conceded McLaren is more risk averse as it fights Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, and suggested Russell, who looked set to finish fifth at best, had less to lose.

«In Russell’s position, there was potentially more motivation to take a risky approach, but we want to think slightly more robustly,» he said.

«We need to be a little cautious with adventurous strategies, which in hindsight actually proved to be good. We scored again higher than Red Bull. We are now [42] points behind.

«The plan with Lando was robust [too], it’s just that we were a little surprised that we could not overtake. Verstappen made the mediums last in the final stint like not many other drivers managed to do.»

McLaren admitted to a risk-averse approach in its constructors’ championship fight with Red Bull

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who moved up to third in the final results, was also tempted to go long at the first round of pitstops before settling for a more conventional strategy.

«It was one of our plans,» said Leclerc. «But I knew that it was very, very unlikely for me to do so.

«When you are in front, to get undercut by three, four cars you just lose so many positions if the one-stop doesn’t work. It was just better to align ourselves with the guys behind.

«I think [Mercedes] just had more pace so they made the one-stop work because they were super, super strong.»

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And at the time of Leclerc’s decision, hard-starting team-mate Carlos Sainz hadn’t completed enough laps yet for Ferrari to realise just how durable the hard compound would prove to be.

«The main issue is that you start with medium and you have to take this decision lap 11 when everybody’s pitting and you have no clue about the zero degradation of the hard,» team boss Fred Vasseur added.

«It was very difficult to imagine that you’ll do 35 laps in Spa [on one set of tyres].»

That sentiment was echoed by Verstappen, who could well have used a one-stop to salvage a good result from starting 11th after his grid penalty.

Alonso was the other outlier in the top 10 who kept going on the one-stop

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez had just one set of hard tyres and two sets of the less desirable mediums available, the opposite of the teams around them.

In theory, that would have made a one-stop more appealing, but the Dutchman felt his RB20 wasn’t kind enough on its tyres to make it work.

«We were on two mediums and a hard; I think [another] hard tyre would have helped,» he said. «Of course, George won the race on a one-stop, but I don’t think we had the tyre wear or tyre life to do that anyway.»

Team boss Christian Horner added: «All the data from Friday pointed towards graining, high degradation and it was actually the complete inverse where a one-stop won the race, so I don’t think anybody could have envisaged that.»

«I don’t think George set off in that race expecting to do a one-stop. But congratulations to him and Mercedes for making it work, because I don’t think even they thought it was potentially going to work at one point.»

A variable forecast over the remainder of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, with rain expected for qualifying ahead of a dry race, will cause Formula 1 teams a set-up dilemma.

In dry conditions, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit requires an aerodynamic set-up that prioritises efficiency.  Downforce is an important factor as drivers need to carry speed through the variety of medium-to-high speed corners around the 4.3-mile circuit, but top speed is also vital. Teams tend to pursue lower-drag wing concepts to minimise any inefficient sources.

Wet weather requires a very different approach, as it’s important to load up the tyres in low-grip conditions to keep them warm and ensure the drivers remain adhered to the road. More downforce is needed in that instance, with little regard for efficiency as the cars rarely top out at the end of longer straights.

A driver expected to figure towards the front will not wish to sacrifice qualifying, as this can severely dent their chances to make progress through the field, but equally cannot afford to enter the race with a surplus of inefficient downforce. Thus, it’s a fine balancing act between the two modes.

The latitude for changes either side of parc ferme — which comes into effect when the Q1 session ends — is small, even with the allowances made for a change in climatic conditions.

Front wing flap angles may be adjusted, but only using the existing bodywork used in qualifying. Thus, if a team opts to use a high-downforce wing in qualifying, it may not switch specification without a penalty.

When a change in conditions is declared by the race director, the rules state that «components specified in Articles 3.13.3 and 3.13.4 of the Technical Regulations» may be swapped out — which relates to the brake ducts within the wheel bodywork. Outright swaps between wing specifications will be met with a pitlane start.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Forecasts suggest that there will be no rain on Sunday, so it makes little sense to throw everything at a higher-downforce qualifying set-up and hope for the best; overtaking at Spa is much more achievable compared to most circuits, and thus it leaves a driver vulnerable in the race if they can’t develop enough speed on the straights.

This also extends to suspension set-ups too: again, developing tyre temperature in wet conditions will be a vital component of a good grid position, but sticking to that in the race puts a driver at risk of overheating their tyres and compromising strategy.

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It’s up to the teams to select the best compromise. If it is confident that it can qualify well in a wet session with a lower-downforce set-up, or that it expects conditions throughout the session to remain variable, then it could opt to focus on a race set-up and take what it can in qualifying.

One driver can go all in for the race: Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver will start from the back of the field either way, having taken a full set of new power unit components, so RB can trim its wing levels for Tsunoda to ensure he has the right set-up for Sunday.

Those expected to feature at the rear of the field — such as Sauber — could also get away with sacrificing grid position for a stronger car on Sunday. Depending on a team’s expected competitiveness, the set-ups may vary from calculated risk to complete gamble.

And if it doesn’t rain? Then the preceding 500-plus words are moot, and it’ll also make the teams very happy.

But as fans, we’d probably prefer the drama: a weekend with changeable conditions is where the engineers really earn their crust…

Watch: It’s Tight At The Top — The View From The Paddock