George Russell made a shocking revelation about his Mercedes W17 at the start of the Belgian GP following his DNF, saying he had no battery at all by the time he got to the Kemmel Straight. He added that this made for a dangerous situation as he felt he was running slower than an F2 car on the Kemmel Straight.

    Russell started Sunday's race from P3 but had a difficult time through Eau Rouge and Raidillon on the very first lap. He then got overtaken by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton down the Kemmel Straight but attempted to get the latter back around the outside of Les Combes, only to get tapped by his former teammate.

    This ended with Russell going off into the gravel and his race ending there and then, while Hamilton received a five-second penalty for causing the collision.

    But after his DNF, the 28-year-old shared that his anger was not with Hamilton but rather with his own car. Speaking to the media after the moment, Russell revealed [via Canal+]:

    George Russell has also been nursing an issue since the British GP that has meant that he is over two tenths of a second slower than Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli on the straights, according to Toto Wolff. According to Russell, this deficit is over four tenths of a second.

    George Russell also shared a stern warning for his Mercedes team, saying that "something needs to change" following his DNF at the Belgian GP. The driver added that the team does not yet know what caused his battery to completely drain at the start of the race.

    Speaking about the issue he faced at the start of the race on Sunday, Russell said:

    With his DNF and Kimi Antonelli winning the Belgian GP, George Russell is now 50 points behind his championship-leading teammate in the drivers' standings. He has also slipped back into P3 in the table, being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton as well, who finished fourth at the Spa circuit.

    The 41-year-old is being investigated for an unsafe release following the race but would only drop down to P5 with what is usually a five-second penalty for such an incident and would still sit ahead of Russell in the championship.

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    Published on 19 July 2026 by sportskeeda

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