Hamilton declared winner of F1 Belgian GP after Mercedes teammate Russell DQ for underweight car

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Lewis Hamilton was promoted to first place at the Belgian Grand Prix after race officials disqualified his Mercedes teammate George Russell for driving an underweight car on Sunday.

Russell crossed the line first after making only one pit stop, finishing just ahead of Hamilton. He celebrated the win in Spa, which would have been the third of the British driver’s career.

But race officials found that his car weighed in below the established limits and ruled to disqualify his result.

“Heartbreaking,” Russell posted on the social media platform X. “We came in 1.5 kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race. We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first. There will be more to come.”

Hamilton took his record haul to 105 F1 career victories for the former seven-time world champion. He has now won two of the last three races after his triumph at Silverstone earlier this month ended a wait of nearly 1,000 days without a win dating back to the penultimate race of 2021. His resurgence comes after he decided to join Ferrari next season and put an end to his 12 years with Mercedes.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri moved up into second place, while pole-sitter Charles Leclerc of Ferrari completed the podium.

Points leader Max Verstappen was fourth after the three-time defending champion started from 11th following a 10-place grid penalty for using one too many engines in his Red Bull.

Lando Norris endured another poor start in his McLaren and was fifth, allowing Verstappen to extend his championship lead to 78 points.

“All in all it was quite a positive day for me, considering we started at P11, and we finished in front of Lando, who is my main rival in the championship," Verstappen said.

Russell’s disqualification ruined what had been deemed a masterclass in tire management by the 26-year-old driver who started from sixth. He only boxed once while the other top drivers all stopped twice over the 44-lap race.

His only stop came on lap 10, so Russell stayed out for 34 laps on the same tires and fended off Hamilton who had spent 18 laps on his last set.

After Russell shouted for joy after the checkered flag, his team radio half-jokingly praised him as “the tire whisperer.”

But that was all for naught.

“We have to take our disqualification on the chin,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said

“We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure we learn from it… To lose a 1-2 is frustrating and we can only apologize to George who drove such a strong race.”

After struggling early on this season, Mercedes has now won three of the last four races. Russell triumphed in Austria and Hamilton in Britain.

With McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari all producing similar pace – and avoiding race-ending crashes — the victory was a question of small margins and getting the pit-stop and tire strategy right. The top six all crossed within 10 seconds.

The seven winners in 13 races after the Hungarian GP had already made this season the most competitive since 2012.

Verstappen has now gone four races without a win after he won four of the first five grands prix this year.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was sixth, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, who had started second in another poor showing for the under-pressure Mexican driver. Fernando Alonso was eighth for Aston Martin, and Esteban Ocon in his Alpine and RB's Daniel Ricciardo closed out the points.

The Spa track, set in the rolling forests of the Ardennes, is the longest in F1 at seven kilometers (4.3 miles). It stayed dry on Sunday in contrast to the constant drizzle the day before that led to a F2 race being postponed.

With 14 of 24 races down, the season now enters a summer break until the Dutch GP on Aug. 25.

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First place, Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, right, jubilates with his trophy as he stands on the podium with second place, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

First place, Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, center, celebrates on the podium with second place Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, left, and third place McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

First place, Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain looks at his trophy on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Crew prepare the car of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands prior to the start of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco steps out of his car during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco, center, leads the pack into the first corner at the start of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes crew watch the Formula One Grand Prix from their garage at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt, Pool Photo via AP)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain crosses the finish line to win the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, left, steers his car ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

First place, Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, center, poses on the podium with second place Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, left, and third place McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain receives the checkered flag as he crosses the finish line to win the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt, Pool Photo via AP)

First place, Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, celebrates on the podium after winning the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain steers his car during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, right, is congratulated by his crew after crossing the finish line to take first place in the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

First place, Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, center, celebrates on the podium with second place Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, left, and third place McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, left, leads ahead of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain as they steer their cars during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

First place, Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, celebrates on the podium with his trophy after winning the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Russia’s Federal Security Service on Friday accused six British diplomats of spying and said a decision has been made to withdraw their accreditation.

Russian state TV quoted an official from the security service known as the FSB as saying that they will be expelled. The expulsions come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Washington for talks with President Joe Biden that will include Ukraine’s request to use Western-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia.

Starmer said on his way to the U.S. that Britain does not “seek any conflict with Russia.” “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away,” he told reporters.

“Ukraine has the right to self-defense and we’ve obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine’s right to self-defense — we’re providing training capability, as you know. But we don’t seek any conflict with Russia — that’s not our intention in the slightest,” he said.

The FSB said it received documents indicating that the diplomats were sent to Russia by a division of the U.K. Foreign Office “whose main task is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country,” and that they were involved in “intelligence-gathering and subversive activities.”

Based on these documents and “in response to numerous unfriendly steps by London,” the Russian Foreign Ministry withdrew the accreditation of the diplomats, the FSB said, without identifying them. It warned that if other diplomats are found to be carrying out “similar actions,” the agency “will demand early termination of their missions” to Russia.

Russian state TV said in a report that the six diplomats had met with independent media and rights groups that have been declared “foreign agents” — a label the Russian authorities have actively used against organizations and individuals critical of the Kremlin.

The British Embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. There was no immediate comment from Britain's Foreign Office.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in an online statement that “We fully agree with the assessments of the activities of the British so-called diplomats expressed by the Russian FSB. The British Embassy has gone far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna Conventions." She said the diplomats were carrying out “subversive actions aimed at causing harm to our people.”

Expulsions of diplomats — both Western diplomats working in Russia and Russian diplomats working in Western countries — have become increasingly common since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian news outlet RBC counted last year that Western countries and Japan expelled a total 670 Russian diplomats between the beginning of 2022 and October 2023, while Moscow expelled 346 diplomats in response. According to RBC, it was more than in the previous 20 years combined.

In May the U.K. expelled Russia’s defense attaché in London, alleging he was an undeclared intelligence officer, and closed several Russian diplomatic properties in Britain that it said were being used for spying.

FILE - The British Embassy building, center, with the Russian Foreign Ministry building, second right, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

FILE - Birds fly with the British Embassy building at center in the background in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)