Source: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
[Saba Sports News] After the inspection following the conclusion of the Belgian F1 Grand Prix, it was discovered that the champion, George Russell’s car, was underweight. The officials quickly confirmed that Russell’s car did not comply with the regulations, leading to the cancellation of his result. In a post-race interview with Sky Sports F1, Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, expressed his views on the cancellation of Russell’s championship. Horner believed that a one-stop strategy would result in the loss of over a kilogram of tire rubber, and they miscalculated, leading to Russell losing the championship. According to data, the current F1 tires weigh 10.4 kilograms for the front and 13.1 kilograms for the rear. In the final stages of the race, the tire weight would be around 8%-10% lighter than new tires, which is about one kilogram. According to Pirelli, the tire supplier’s data, Russell used the hard tires for 34 laps, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton used them for 18 laps, resulting in a difference of 16 laps. Based on this data, Russell’s tires were approximately 375 grams lighter than Hamilton’s for each tire, which supports Horner’s speculation. Clearly, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team did not calculate the minimum weight of the car under a one-stop strategy, which was a decision-making mistake.