Following the race, it was discovered that George Russell's Mercedes was underweight. As a result, teammate Lewis Hamilton was declared the winner and Russell was disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix.
With a one-stop approach that saw him nursing his hard tires to the finish line and just hold off Hamilton by.5 seconds, Russell had won the race.
The car was initially determined to be in compliance with the minimum weight requirement of 798 kg, but 2.8 liters of gasoline were later deleted, according to a Technical Delegate's Report that was made public following the race.
The report then states: "Since TR Article 6.5.2 is satisfied, the automobile was not completely drained in accordance with the draining technique that the team presented in its legality documentation.
The vehicle weighed 796.5 kg when it was weighed once again on the FIA inside and outdoor scales. The rival verified and saw that the exterior and interior scales were calibrated.
"I am referring this to the stewards for their consideration, as this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition."
Russell was officially declared out of the race after being reported to the stewards. As a result, Oscar Piastri now holds P2, Charles Leclerc advances to P3, and Hamilton is elevated to P1.
The following was mentioned in a document made public after the stewards' hearing: "The team representative attested throughout the hearing that the measurement is accurate and that all necessary processes were carried out appropriately. The crew also admitted that there were no extenuating factors and that their mistake was real.
"The stewards determine that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement needs to be applied."
Although Piastri didn't help himself by overshooting his markings at his final pit stop and losing a few seconds, he stated he thought the McLaren did not quite have the desired performance.
It is irrelevant whether he would have been able to pass Leclerc to win since he would have been able to close on the Mercedes sooner and pass him quicker with newer tires if he hadn't done it.
In the last laps, Leclerc outperformed Verstappen and Norris by driving a strong car in the underdog Ferrari.
The strategy models used by the teams had Verstappen as their winner, but he encountered more obstacles than he would have anticipated in his journey.
On the opening lap, however, Norris lost out after getting forced wide at the first curve, sliding onto the gravel, and dropping to eighth place.
He had too much distance to make up to enter the lead battle after failing to pass Sainz in front of him during the first stint.
The narrative of the race was Piastri's statement that "track position is king," as he had some space at the front between Hamilton's last stop and his own.
In addition, Fernando Alonso used a one-stop tactic to defeat Esteban Ocon of Alpine, while Daniel Ricciardo secured the winning point when Russell was disqualified.
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