“It’s Hammertime versus Russell Hustle” – this is what the commentators said during the final laps at the Belgian Grand Prix. The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were in a duel of their own at the front of the grid. But despite taking the topmost place from the early stages of the race in Spa, Hamilton lost his lead to his own teammate. Do you wonder why? Well, because Mercedes just pulled off an act exactly opposite to what McLaren did with Lando Norris at the Hungarian GP.
At last week’s race, McLaren coaxed Norris to give up his race-winning position. Their reason for the request was that Oscar Piastri had taken the lead earlier in the race and the Aussie deserved to get the victory. At the Belgian GP, Lewis Hamilton shocked all the onlookers by advancing on Sergio Perez and pole-sitter Charles Leclerc. Listening to his team’s strategists, he perfectly obeyed and made 2 pit stops too. But in the end, Mercedes did not ask George Russell to concede the position to Hamilton as the team allowed the two British talents to fight amongst themselves.
George Russell, showing his outstanding tire preservation skills, went on the hard compounds for 30 laps. He converted a race that should have had 2-pit stop strategies into a 1-pit stop affair. Oozing confidence, the 26-year-old soared to an unexpected victory at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. And without Mercedes intervening in Russell’s fight with Hamilton, the 7-time World Champion had to settle for a second-place finish despite performing brilliantly by braving the deadly Eau Rouge.
Mercedes’ disinterest in asking George Russell to concede to Lewis Hamilton was obvious to all the viewers. And it was evident to Lewis himself as well. Taking the hint at how his team did not even help him with what could have been his 105th Grand Prix victory, he remained silent over the team radio. While Russell screamed with joy after running past the finishing line, Hamilton, on the other hand, only offered radio silence in stark contrast to the other races where he often cheers on his crew members.
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Despite staying silent on the radio, Hamilton didn’t shy away from taking a subtle dig at Mercedes after the race. So, what did he say?
