‘Heartbroken’ George Russell breaks silence after disqualification in 36-word statement – but leaves celebration post up
GEORGE RUSSELL has broken his silence on his Belgian Grand Prix disqualification.
The British driver had finished ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton at Spa on Sunday.
However, he was disqualified hours after the race following a review from the race stewards.
Officials found Russell’s car to be underweight after it was drained of fuel during the post-race checks.
As a result, Hamilton was upgraded to the race winner to claim his second victory in three attempts.
Following the disqualification, Russell wrote on Instagram: “Heartbreaking… We came in 1.5kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race.
“We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first. There will be more to come.”
He also left up his celebratory post, though, having earlier shared snaps of himself with the trophy.
Russell had said: “P1!!! From P6 to the top step, what an incredible feeling! Running the hard tyres for 34 laps was a risk but it paid off.
“Heading into the break with a 1-2 shows all the hard work is paying off. We always believed and will never stop. Let’s go team!!!”
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The 26-year-old was denied his third career race win by the dramatic circumstances in Belgium.
It would have also been his second victory of the season after taking the chequered flag in Austria last month.
Sunday’s chaos ends with Hamilton sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, two places above Russell.
Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc were bumped up to second and third respectively after Russell’s exit.
The F1 season will not take a four-week break before returning for the Dutch Grand Prix and Zandvoort on August 25.
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