David Coulthard loved what George Russell did in Spa that showed his ‘winner’s mentality’

Follow us on Google Discover

Mercedes driver George Russell thought he had secured the third – and arguably best – win of his Formula 1 career on Sunday at Spa.

The Belgian Grand Prix never looked like a winnable race for George Russell from sixth on the grid.

Only Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen started behind Russell and his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton looked much more likely to taste victory.

Hamilton had leapfrogged Sainz and Sergio Perez at the beginning of the race and looked set to add his 105^th victory to his tally.

However, Russell gambled on a one-stop strategy and after running 34 laps on one set of tyres and holding off a late charge from Hamilton and Oscar Piastri, took the chequered flag.

Karun Chandhok has shared his theory about why Russell’s car was underweight as the FIA recommended that the stewards disqualify the 26-year-old following a 1.5kg discrepancy between his W15 and the minimum weight allowed.

Hamilton sent a message to Russell after the race once he learned he had inherited the victory from his teammate but Martin Brundle noticed that Hamilton wasn’t happy once the race had finished before he learned of his latest win.

Speaking on the Formula For Success Bonus Podcast, former F1 race winner David Coulthard was full of praise for Russell despite his disqualification.

He explained what he loved about the Mercedes driver’s performance at Spa and why he could take confidence from the race despite heading into the summer break 25 points short of where he thought he was going to be.

READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height

David Coulthard lauds ‘winner’s mentality’ from George Russell at Spa

Speaking after the race in Belgium, Coulthard said: “It was a cracking race, it was a really good race except if you’re George Russell, so let’s address that first of all.

“He seems that he drove the decision to go for the one-stop from the cockpit, so that’s a winner’s mentality, not just following the instructions of the team which would have almost certainly put him behind Lewis Hamilton who drove faultlessly it has to be said.

“But he was disqualified, 1.5kg. Now, 1.5kg, that’s not a small amount.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Mercedes AMG F1 Team from team principal to lineage

George Russell looks ready to step out from behind Lewis Hamilton’s shadow

Although the record books will forever say that Hamilton won the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, Russell’s performance was outstanding.

Russell had to gamble on his strategy to try and deliver a strong result for Mercedes and the way he drove at Spa was more than good enough to earn what should have been his third F1 victory.

However, Mercedes will still take encouragement from the fact that Russell had the confidence to make that call and then execute it when racing against his teammate on fresher tyres.

Russell looks set to be joined by Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes next season after Carlos Sainz was confirmed by Williams on Monday.

It means the Brit is going to have to be the senior driver in the team while the Italian teenager gets up to speed in 2025.

That puts an additional layer of pressure on Russell’s shoulders but he’s started to show in recent races that he’s more than capable of living up to that expectation.