Red Bull team principal Christian Horner didn’t miss the opportunity to point out Mercedes’ “mistake” after George Russell was disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix.

Just two hours after the Briton had clinched a Mercedes 1-2 at Spa by executing a superb one-stop strategy, the 26-year-old was disqualified from the race classification following an FIA investigation.

A FIA delegate report found that his Mercedes car was underweight by 1.5kg after a post-race fuel check. It means that Lewis Hamilton would be promoted to race winner, with Oscar Piastri second and Charles Leclerc third.

Reacting to the news in the F1 paddock, Horner admitted he felt sorry for Russell but chose to focus on Mercedes’ error in calculating his fuel levels.

“I’m sure he would have lost well over a kilo of rubber, we saw that on Friday,” Horner told Sky Sports F1. “But you have to carry enough fuel to be able to do the sample, otherwise you’re using fuel as ballast.

“Really sad news for George but obviously a mistake in their [Mercedes’] calculations.”

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko also commented: “The regulations are clear. If I remember [Sebastian] Vettel in Hungary, it was even less and he was disqualified.”

Horner’s reference to losing a “kilo of rubber” stems from how F1 teams use different methods to make the minimum weight, with the tyres included in those calculations.

Russell’s 35-lap stint on the hard tyre means that the rubber would have been more worn than Hamilton’s set, and the lack of rubber on his car would have left him needing to increase his weight towards the end of the race.

Because Hamilton had planned to do a two-stop strategy, this had been calculated into his weight. However, Russell’s one-stop plan was spontaneous and that left him in the lurch.

At Spa, the drivers do not need to do a cooldown lap on their way back to the pits, meaning they can go straight in. But on that cooldown lap, they are able to pick up rubber to add to their weight – and Russell didn’t have the opportunity to do so.

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Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said the team would “take it on the chin” after acknowledging it was a “genuine mistake” that cost Russell the win and 25 points in the Drivers’ Championship.

Horner, who saw Max Verstappen finish fifth in the race after starting 11th, will be pleased to see his team pick up an extra four points due to Russell’s disqualification.

The championship leader now takes away 12 points from Spa rather than 10, while Sergio Perez collects seven after finishing P7 and taking the fastest lap towards the end of the race.