In a surprising turn of events, George Russell's triumphant victory at the Belgian Grand Prix was short-lived as his Mercedes team discovered his car was underweight, leading to disqualification. The small margin, measured in kilograms, of 1.5kg cost Russell his first-ever Formula One win.

The disqualification occurred two hours after the race, when Russell's car was weighed and found to be at 796.5kg, 1.5kg below the required weight to comply with F1's technical regulations. Despite the jubilant celebrations earlier, Mercedes and Russell were left with no choice but to accept the ruling.

Team principal Toto Wolff expressed disappointment, acknowledging the team's oversight and emphasizing the need to learn from the mistake. Russell himself described the disqualification as "heartbreaking" in a social media post.

Being underweight after the race is a rarity in Formula One, where every detail is meticulously accounted for. While teams aim to design lightweight cars, they add ballast to ensure the cars meet the minimum weight requirement of 798kg after the race. The last time a car was found to be underweight was in 2006 when Robert Kubica's BMW was disqualified from seventh place at the Hungarian Grand Prix for being 2kg below the minimum weight.

Mercedes will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the reason for the oversight. Initially, it is believed to be linked to the one-stop strategy employed by Russell, which saw him make a single set of hard compound tires last 34 laps. This gamble propelled him from fifth place to take the lead as his rivals made their second pit stops.

The team's strategy modeling initially projected that both a planned two-stop strategy and the eventual one-stop strategy would result in a fifth-place finish. However, Russell's tires held up remarkably well, defying expectations that they would not last. The team suspects that the loss of rubber through tire wear during the lengthy stint may have contributed to the car's underweight status.

Despite the unforeseen circumstances, Mercedes acknowledged that there are no excuses for the mistake and pledged to ensure it would not happen again in the future. The team had not utilized the hard compound tire during the weekend before the race, and major setup changes after Friday practice added another layer of complexity.

The uniqueness of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit also played a role in the oversight. The length of the circuit, combined with the absence of a cooldown lap after the chequered flag, prevented Russell from picking up any extra weight by collecting discarded rubber and debris as drivers typically do on other circuits.

As Mercedes reflects on the disappointment of losing a one-two finish and Russell's first victory, they will be focusing on identifying the cause of the underweight car and implementing measures to prevent a recurrence of such an incident.