George Russell has spoken out after losing his victory at the recent Belgian Grand Prix.
Russell had successfully executed a daring one-stop strategy, finishing slightly ahead of his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
He celebrated on the podium, but hours later received the shocking news of his disqualification.
The reason for his disqualification was that his car was discovered to be 1.5 kilograms underweight.
Initially, the weight of his car was recorded at 798kg, which is the minimum weight allowed for both car and driver combined.
George Russell (right) celebrated winning the Belgian Grand Prix but was later disqualified
Russell was stripped of his victory after it was confirmed that his car was 1.5kg underweight
However, the stewards later determined that the car had not been completely drained of fuel, leading to a revised weight of 796.5kg.
Later that day, Russell expressed his thoughts on social media about the unexpected outcome.
He lamented: ‘Heartbreaking… We came in 1.5kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race.’
‘We gave it our all on the track today, and I am proud to have crossed the line first. More will come.’
As a consequence of Russell’s disqualification, Hamilton was elevated to first place.
The seven-time world champion, Hamilton, shared his feelings through Instagram.
He expressed: ‘Mixed emotions regarding today’s result.’
‘While I am obviously delighted to receive the win, I feel for George, and it’s regrettable for our team not to achieve a 1-2 finish.’
‘However, there are many positive aspects to reflect on from today.’
‘At the beginning of the weekend, we didn’t anticipate being this competitive, so it’s encouraging to see how far we’ve progressed and that we are genuinely in the contest.’
Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was promoted to P1 following Russell’s disqualification
Hamilton (left) was promoted to first, while Oscar Piastri (right) moved up from third to second
‘We will carry these positives with us into the break and return as a stronger team ready to continue our momentum.’
Russell acknowledged Hamilton’s post, adding: ‘Congrats on the win @lewishamilton’, complete with a trophy emoji.
