Lewis Hamilton reckons Mercedes had ‘lots of positives’ despite George Russell’s disqualification from Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton admitted that Mercedes should focus on the positives from the Belgian GP after George Russell was disqualified.

Lewis Hamilton reckons Mercedes had ‘lots of positives’ despite George Russell’s disqualification from Belgian GP

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton (images via IMAGO)

George Russell had to hand over his Belgian GP win to teammate Lewis Hamilton as his car was found underweight post race. Mercedes reckoned they made a major mistake managing Russell car weight before the race. This unfortunate situation had Russell in tears and Mercedes to lose their first 1-2 finish of the season. Despite the incident, Lewis Hamilton extracted positives from the outcome.

Lewis Hamilton expressed his disappointment for the team to miss a crucial 1-2 finish at the Belgian GP. However, the Briton pointed out many positives to take away from the race and learn from it. He felt that the car had performed well and that they had been faster than they had expected. Because, in practice sessions and Qualifying, Hamilton had mentioned that the car was not feeling as it did in the last races. This gave them hope and confidence for future races. Hence, even though the team didn’t achieve the ultimate result, they had learned a lot and made progress.

It is of course disappointing for the team to lose the 1-2 but there are lots of positives to take away from today. The car was feeling good, and we had much better pace than we expected.
Lewis Hamilton said.

Further, Hamilton explained that there were some team’s cars who were performing similar to his car. However, once he and Mercedes managed to get ahead of those cars, they were able to stay at the front. They decided to make two pit stops during the race, which is known as a two-stop strategy. This strategy allowed the Briton to keep his position and stay ahead of the cars trailing behind him. Sticking throughout the strategy, they were able to manage the race well and maintain advantage over other competitors.

There were several cars that seemed similar in terms of performance but once we had got ahead, we were able to maintain that position. We committed to the two-stop strategy and covered those directly behind us.
Lewis Hamilton added.

Lewis Hamilton expressed his disappointment for George Russell

Lewis Hamilton expressed that he felt bad for Russell for his disqualification despite winning the race. He acknowledged that winning a race due to someone else’s disqualification isn’t the ideal way to secure a victory. However, he pointed out that the team had been competing for wins in the past few races, which was a positive sign. The team definitely lost the 1-2 finishes, however the 25 points still remain in their pockets.

I feel for George, and you don't want to win a race through a disqualification, but we have been back in the fight for victories in the past few races.
Lewis Hamilton stated.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell (via IMAGO)

Hamilton mentioned that the competition has become very tough at the front with McLaren’s and Red Bull. Therefore the team will need to put in a lot of effort to keep fighting for victories consistently. Despite the challenges, he emphasized that they can go into the summer break feeling optimistic and with a good momentum. The Briton reckoned, this positive outlook will help them prepare and come back stronger for the second half of the season.

It is incredibly competitive now, so we will need to work hard to battle for wins more consistently. Nevertheless, we can go into the summer break with momentum and positivity.
Lewis Hamilton added.

Certainly, Lewis Hamilton felt that Russell’s disqualification was a significant loss for the team and for him. He doesn’t consider the Belgian GP as an ideal win because he believes his teammate drove better than him. However, taking the lessons into consideration they decided to move forward. Fans were delighted and disappointed at the same time by losing the 1-2 which would have given them a crucial lead in the constructors championship.

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