Formula 1 makes rare decision, first time since 1994

Not long after Mercedes' George Russell appeared to have secured his third career Formula 1 win and his second in the last month, it was teammate Lewis Hamilton who officially extended his all-time wins record with career win number 105.

Russell's Belgian Grand Prix victory was stripped from him and handed to his teammate, who originally finished the 44-lap race around the 19-turn, 4.352-mile (7.004-kilometer) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in second place.

Russell's Mercedes was found to be underweight, and he was excluded from the Belgian Grand Prix results as a result. He lost the 25 points he originally scored with the race win, and every other driver was promoted by one position, starting with Hamilton.

While Formula 1 drivers have been disqualified before, this marks the first instance in which a race winner was disqualified in three decades.

It hadn't happened since Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix.

Prior to Russell, just five race winners had ever been disqualified in the history of Formula 1. In addition to Schumacher, that list includes Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, and James Hunt.

Given who all is on that list, Russell is in good company. Schumacher won seven world championships while Prost won four, Senna and Piquet won three, and Hunt won one.

Hunt was disqualified from the 1976 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, making Niki Lauda the winner. Piquet was disqualified from the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix at Jacarepagua Circuit, and so was runner-up finisher Keke Rosberg, making Prost the winner.

Prost was disqualified from the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola Circuit, making Elio de Angelis the winner. Senna was disqualified from the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, making Alessandro Nannini the winner. Then at Spa in 1994, Damon Hill was classified as the winner after Schumacher was disqualified.

Formula 1 is now set for its annual summer break, as action is not scheduled to resume until the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort on Sunday, August 25. ESPN is set to provide live coverage of the race beginning at 8:55 a.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!