George Russell slates "dangerous" Mercedes problem after Spa F1 retirement

George Russell has criticised Mercedes after revealing that a battery problem left him helpless before his race-ending collision at the Belgian Grand Prix. 

The Spa-Francorchamps weekend came to a premature end for Russell, as he was swamped along the Kemmel Straight, before failing in an attempt to run wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton through Les Combes. 

While Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for causing the contact that sent Russell into the gravel, the Mercedes driver held nothing against his former team-mate, and instead blamed continuing problems with his car. 

“I made a good start. I made a great first corner, and I was tucked up right behind Verstappen," said the Briton. 

"But for whatever reason, the battery decided not to recharge at turn one. So, I went around the first corner, the battery didn't charge, and I exited the first corner 35% down.

"Because of that, because it didn't charge, I also had a boost problem; the turbo didn't sort itself out, so I had no power. So I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0% on the battery. 

“Quite frankly, it was dangerous, you know. 

“I got swamped by three cars. I shouldn't have been in that position in the first place, and that's why I'm most angry. The incident with Lewis, honestly, I think was a racing incident.”

Holding nothing against Hamilton, Russell added: “He didn't do it on purpose. He was more to blame than I, but he didn't do anything reckless. That was one of those things. I'm just most angry that I was in that position in the first place. 

“I was in a great position after turn one, and I was ready to fight the two guys ahead of me up to turn five. Instead, I get swamped by three drivers.”

Russell has suffered a number of reliability problems this term and spoke after qualifying about his continuing struggles, and how Mercedes had now ruled out his lack of pace being to do with his driving style. 

Asked if this was a repeat of a previous issue, he said: “No, this time, something totally different, but it's every race, you know.”

He added: “I'm numb to the disappointment now. When it happens so often, you just get used to it.”