Hamilton UNDER INVESTIGATION after incident with Russell in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying

Lewis Hamilton was forced to wait to find out his confirmed grid position for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, after he was referred to the stewards during qualifying at Spa.

The seven-time world champion was confirmed to be under investigation during Q2 after appearing to hamper the lap time of team-mate George Russell behind him on the circuit.

An official announcement confirmed that the Mercedes star would be investigated after the pole position shootout.

READ MORE: Verstappen handed GRID PENALTY for Belgian Grand Prix

The incident occurred at Eau Rouge, with Hamilton running wide off the track only to cut the corner and re-emerge in front of Russell who noticeably lifted off slightly as he started the long run down the Kemmel straight.

There was no notable complaint from Russell and it did not affect his qualifying session as he comfortably reached Q3.

Hamilton and Russell reported to the stewards at 5.50pm UK time along with Mercedes representatives, with Hamilton set to line up third on the grid and Russell only eighth after struggling in Q3 pending no further action is taken.

During the meeting, Hamilton explained that he had been warned of the approach of Valtteri Bottas and moved out of the way, in this case off track.

Russell explained that he had the same warning but moved out of the way later. He also explained that as he was on the same program as Hamilton he was fully aware of what Hamilton was doing and that at no point was the manoeuvre unsafe, with the drivers' explanations satisfying the stewards who took no further action.

Mercedes have brought upgrades to the Spa circuit this weekend and will be hopeful of taking pole position, given race favourite Max Verstappen will be handed a five-place grid drop after changing a gearbox.

READ MORE: Remembering Spa '98 and Schumacher's raging attempt to ASSAULT rival

Related

Latest F1 News

Iconic F1 tracks 'VULNERABLE' as three countries queue to host races

• August 13, 2024 13:43

Latest F1 News

Marko BLAMES Mercedes for F1 nightmare as Red Bull chief takes shot at rivals

• August 9, 2024 21:57