Triple Whammy that reportedly cost George Russell the F1 Belgian GP victory

George Russell suffered the worst-case scenario in Belgium during the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix on July 28. Despite winning the race, he saw FIA disqualify him after his car was found 1.5 kilograms underweight and now, the case of Triple Whammy emerged which possibly resulted in Russell's disqualification from the race.

Hamilton, who finished the race in P2, inherited the race win. Despite the victory remaining with Mercedes, the Silver Arrows admitted their fault, which resulted in the disqualification. Although they had no immediate answer as to what caused the car to be underweight, three prominent theories have surfaced now.

The first theory was the loss of tire mass during the race. Notably, Russell did not opt for a two-stop strategy, which helped him to win the race. In doing so, his tires were extensively eroded and lost a big chunk of mass during the race.

Each tire needed to lose about 375 grams to make up the missing 1.5 kilograms of weight. Mario Isola, Pirelli's head of F1 and car racing, did not rule this out. He stated that losing 1 kilogram of tire mass was possible at such an extensive stint in Belgium.

However, Mercedes did not confirm that the lighter tires contributed to weight loss. Secondly, it is understood that the British driver lost significant weight due to perspiration. Spa-Francorchamps on the day of the race was humid and Russell's extensive weight loss could have triggered the underweight situation.

The third theory that came up was the plank wear. Eau Rouge of Spa-Francorchamps, in particular, punishes cars as they compress heavily at the bottom of the dip.

"The car can lose quite a lot of weight during the race," Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said in Mercedes' post-race analysis video. (per motorsport.com) "You get tyre wear, plank wear, brake wear, oil consumption. The drivers themselves can lose a lot. And in this particular race, George lost quite a bit of weight."

George Russell claimed the 2024 Belgian GP victory after he held his teammate Lewis Hamilton off at the Spa-Francorchamps race in July. Despite winning the race, the FIA scrutinized his W-15 and slammed the disqualification on him after Russell's car failed to meet the FIA's technical regulations.

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FIA's statement after disqualifying George Russell

George Russell of Mercedes at Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium on July 28, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

After George Russell crossed the finish line, the FIA took his car for a routine check. As per the developments, the #63 car initially failed to meet the preliminary investigation criteria and was later disqualified by the FIA. Jo Bauer, the FIA's technical delegate, released a statement following the decision.

"After the race, car number 63 was weighed and it's weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by the 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 statement read.

This was George Russell's third Grand Prix win of his F1 career, which does not exist anymore. Besides the British driver, Mercedes were also dealt a heavy blow as they lost a fascinating 1-2 finish in Belgium.