Belgian Grand Prix winner George Russell faces disqualification

George Russell's victory at the Belgian Grand Prix has been placed in significant doubt after his car was found to be below the minimum weight allowance.

Russell held off team-mate Lewis Hamilton following a thrilling finale at Spa-Francorchamps, but Mercedes were then summoned to the stewards.

A statement from the FIA’s technical delegate Jo Bauer read: "After the race, car number 63 (Russell) was weighed and its weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1.

"After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed. The car was not fully drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality documents as TR Article 6.5.2 is fulfilled.

"The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was 796.5kg. The calibration of the outside and inside scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.

"As this is 1.5kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration."

Disqualification for Russell would see Hamilton add another triumph to the one chalked up at Silverstone three weeks ago.

The seven-time world champion assumed the lead of the race on lap three of 44, but Russell, who started sixth, had other plans and he adopted a bold one-stop strategy to outfox his rivals and claim just the third victory of his career.

Russell crossed the line a mere half a second ahead of Hamilton, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri third and only six tenths behind the runner-up. Ferrari pole-sitter Charles Leclerc took fourth place.

Max Verstappen started 11th following an engine penalty and crossed the line in