George Russell taken out of F1 Belgian GP on first lap as Lewis Hamilton punished
George Russell has suffered another blow to his F1 title hopes after a first-lap clash with Lewis Hamilton.
George Russell has been taken out of the Belgian Grand Prix in a first-lap collision with Lewis Hamilton.
Russell was trying to swoop around the outside Hamilton at Les Combes but the seven-time world champion suffered a snap of oversteer and slid into the side of the Mercedes driver.
Russell was sent spinning off into the gravel, where his W17 was beached, bringing out a first-lap safety car.
It marks a huge blow to Russell's world championship hopes, with the Briton already 25 points behind Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli heading into the race.
Following an investigation, Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty after being judged to have been at fault for the collision.
Hamilton had tried to plead his innocence over team radio but the stewards elected to punish him nonetheless.
Follow all the action throughout the 44-lap race with our live blog here.
"Car crossed over in front of me. I was right behind another car, so I had no front end," Hamilton insisted.
Russell described it as a "racing incident" and did not put the blame on Hamilton.
"I just got totally swallowed up down the straight," Russell told Sky Sports F1.
"I lost three positions down the straight down into Turn Five and then the incident was a racing incident.
"Maybe I could have gone a bit wider, maybe he could have braked a bit more, the incident shouldn't have happened if I had the speed down the straight.
"Very, very disappointed."
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
