George Russell was furious with Mercedes during the start of the Belgian GP. In a radio clip that did not make it to the live broadcast, you can hear the Englishman berating his team. The Mercedes driver retired in the first lap after a collision with former teammate Lewis Hamilton. The clip shows that he mainly blamed his team: on the straight, Russell lacked significant power.
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In the opening lap at Spa-Francorchamps, Russell touched Hamilton’s front tire, after which he ended up in the gravel and had to retire from the race. Hamilton later received a five-second time penalty for causing the collision, but from an unaired radio message it appears that Russell mainly wanted to blame his own team. “I’m out,” he fumed. “What on earth happened on the straight?” the Brit then roared. “I had no damn battery on the straight. Guys, this is unacceptable. This whole weekend is unacceptable.”
‘Disappointment is starting to become familiar’
The retirement came at a particularly unfortunate moment for Russell, who had previously reduced his gap to teammate Kimi Antonelli to 25 championship points. However, due to Antonelli’s sixth win in ten races, the difference increased again to 50 points. Russell admitted to the press that this latest setback hit hard. “I am now worn down by disappointment,” Russell sighed. “When it happens so often, you almost start to get used to it.”
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The Mercedes driver emphasized that he appreciates his team’s efforts but was frustrated to be taken out of a race prematurely again. “I appreciate that everyone is working hard to solve the problem, but yes, here I am again telling my story to the media while the race has just started. I felt I was in a good position to fight for the lead up to turn one, and then the engine suddenly cut out.”
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