George Russell described his disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix as “heartbreaking” after seeing victory taken away from him after the race.
Mercedes initially secured a 1-2 with Russell pulling off an audacious one-stop technique to beat Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri in an exhilarating end. Publish-race scrutineering then discovered Russell’s automobile to be 1.5 kg underweight and, as that could be a technical infringement, it mechanically results in a disqualification from the outcomes.
“Heartbreaking…” Russell stated. “We got here in 1.5 kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race. We left all of it on the observe right this moment and I take pleasure in crossing the road first. There will likely be extra to come back.”
Talking earlier than he was disqualified, Russell stated the choice to one-stop was a spontaneous one which had not been thought-about forward of the race.
“We spoke a lot this morning concerning the two-stop, the three-stop, however out of the blue the tires, the automobile felt actually, actually good. I obtained into this groove, and particularly after I obtained into the lead, there have been no again markers in entrance, no different automobiles in entrance — it sort of felt like driving a simulator. It was fairly bizarre.
“I used to be wanting on the hole to Lewis and the speed he was catching me, and I simply thought there’s no cause why we are able to’t keep out right here and do that one cease and attempt to make it work.”
Russell’s disqualification is the primary time a driver has misplaced a victory for a technical infringement after the race since Michael Schumacher at Spa-Francorchamps 30 years in the past, and is one the crew didn’t dispute.
“Now we have to take our disqualification on the chin,” crew principal Toto Wolff stated. “Now we have clearly made a mistake and want to make sure we be taught from it. We’ll go away, consider what occurred and perceive what went mistaken. To lose a 1-2 is irritating and we are able to solely apologize to George who drove such a robust race.
“Lewis is after all promoted to P1; he was the quickest man on the two-stop and is a deserving winner.”
