Minichamps 1:43 Mercedes-AMG W15 – George Russell, 2024 Season Art. 410240163

A 1:43 model of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 as raced by George Russell in the 2024 season, carrying car number 63 in the black and silver livery. Diecast, in a protective display case.

He won at Spa and lost it on the scales

Russell crossed the line first at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix after a one-stop strategy nobody else attempted, nursing a set of hard tyres for 34 laps while faster cars closed on him. It was, on the face of it, one of the drives of the season.

Then his car was weighed. Formula One sets a minimum of 798 kilograms including the driver, measured after the race. The W15 came in at 796.5.

The cause was the strategy itself. A long stint wears rubber off the tyres, and rubber is weight. Mercedes had calculated the margin and the calculation was wrong by a kilogram and a half.

Russell was disqualified. The win passed to Lewis Hamilton, his team-mate, in the other car — which is a peculiar way for a team to score a victory.

There is no discretion in the rule and no argument to be made; a car either makes weight or it does not. Mercedes accepted the penalty the same evening.

Russell's 2024

He won in Austria and Las Vegas, took pole four times, and finished sixth in the championship — one place and seven points behind Hamilton, in the year he became the team's senior driver for everything that followed.

In the range

Set 410240144 is his team-mate Lewis Hamilton's W15, and 417230163 the 2023 W14.

Specifications

Scale: 1:43 · Diecast · Protective display case · Limited edition · Age: 14+
Sponsor detail: Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Petronas, Pirelli and team partners