Lewis Hamilton hints at Mercedes error before George Russell disqualification

Lewis Hamilton suggested that Mercedes pitted him too early as he missed out on victory at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell claimed a stunning win as the younger Brit made his hard tyres last for 30-plus laps on a one-stop strategy.

Meanwhile Hamilton, and the rest of the chasing pack, opted for two stops and although the seven-time F1 world champion was within half-a-second of Russell in a thrilling finale, he could not squeeze past his team-mate.

A frustrated Hamilton said after the race at Spa-Francorchamps: “I was trying to get close to George, he did a great job going long on the tyres.

“Every stint I had tyres left but the team pulled me in. Unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

Hamilton took the lead from Charles Leclerc early in the race and Mercedes responded to Leclerc pitting a second time round in pitting Hamilton a lap later.

Yet Russell, adamant over team radio that the team should keep him out on a one-stop strategy, was vindicated in his bold call.

“We definitely didn’t expect it, congratulations to George and the team,” Hamilton added. “We had a disaster on Friday, car was nowhere. But it was fantastic today.

“If we can continue these types of performance, it will be fantastic. We’ve got to keep pushing.”

When asked about why the team pitted Hamilton a second time round, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “I’d like to have two winners today. We had to cover Leclerc and Norris because we would have been under-cut.

“George had nothing to lose, he would have been P5 either way.”