Russell praises Hamilton: 'At least the team still won'

The day of the Belgian Grand Prix soon turned sour for George Russell: After winning the race with executing a one-stop strategy, that soon got taken away from him, because his car was under the minimum weight limit. After an initial post on social media, here is how the Briton reacted, the team report.

George Russell's trophy for P1 will now go to Lewis Hamilton. "Despite the disqualification, I am of course proud to have crossed the line first. It is also good that the team was still able to take the victory with Lewis. He drove a great race and was the fastest car out there on the two-stop strategy," the Briton found the saving grace in his disqualifcation.

He added: "Whilst I'm incredibly disappointed, I know we will bounce back stronger after the summer break, starting in Zandvoort."

During the race at Spa-Francorchams, while Mercedes reacted to Charles Leclerc's second pit stop with Hamilton, Russell communicated over the team radio that he wants to commit to a one-stop instead. "I was nursing them [the tyres] in the early stages and as we went further, I became more and more convinced we could get to the end on them. It was a risk worth taking and it looked like it had paid off," the Briton explained.