Horner confirms Wolff suspicion over Russell disqualification

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has weighed in on George Russell’s disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell took the chequered flag ahead of Lewis Hamilton at Spa-Francorchamps to take his second victory of the season.

However, it quickly emerged that Russell’s win was under threat after his car was found to be underweight, which is normally a slam dunk disqualification.

The stewards quickly confirmed Russell’s Mercedes was not compliant with the regulations, resulting in his exclusion.

Some, including Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, theorised the loss of rubber through Russell’s one-stop strategy contributed to being under the weight.

Speaking to Sky F1, Horner stated it may well have been the case.

“I’m sure he would have lost well over a kilo of rubber [through the strategy], we saw that on Friday,” Horner said.

“You have to carry enough fuel to do the sample, otherwise you’re using fuel as ballast. So it’s really sad news for George, but a mistake in their calculations.”

Russell’s disqualification allowed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to rise to fourth and seventh respectively in the final race result.