Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he didn’t feel like he won the race in Belgium when he inherited the victory from George Russell after the driver’s disqualification. The race in Belgium saw the Mercedes drivers battle it out for the win, and Russell eventually prevailed on a single-stop strategy.

There was, however, the aftermath that saw George Russell get disqualified for his car being underweight. As a result, Lewis Hamilton went on to inherit the win from his Mercedes teammate. This did, however, end what was the first 1-2 finish for the German team since 2022.

Ahead of the Dutch GP, Lewis Hamilton was questioned about his reaction to being informed that he’d inherited the race win from George Russell. Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the Brit touched on how everybody felt the pain of losing a 1-2 finish:

“We felt so happy that we had a one-two. It was the first time in a long time. And to be affected by something like that, we all feel the pain because it’s from decisions and processes that we’ve gone through and we’ve missed.“

He added:

“Ultimately, it affects all of us when one car doesn’t finish, so we lost valuable points. We’re trying to catch up to the Ferraris, so it’s really not ideal. George took it very well. And I already said that’s not the way I want to win the race. I went away on my holiday and I didn’t feel like I won a race.”

This was Lewis Hamilton’s second race win of the season. The George Russell DSQ also meant that Mercedes was unable to close the gap to Ferrari in the constructors championship.

Unlike Lewis Hamilton, George Russell not looking at constructors championship

Unlike Lewis Hamilton, who is fixated on the points lost in the constructors championship, his teammate George Russell is more focused on getting more race wins under the belt. The young driver has won a race this season in Austria when both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris clashed and were out of contention.

George Russell was also in contention to win the race in Silverstone as he started on pole, but what pushed him back was the fact that he was suffering from PU issues from very early in the race. He told the media:

“We’re not too focused on those points right now. We’re just taking it race-by-race, just trying to understand the car further and try and get some more victories under our belt.”

Rain is expected to make an appearance during the 2024 F1 Dutch GP race weekend. With Mercedes performing comparatively better in the wet than in the dry, both Lewis and George will be hoping to take advantage and maybe secure another win.