George Russell was ‘at a loss for words’ over one question after Belgian Grand Prix DNF

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George Russell suffered another devastating blow to his title chances in 2026 as his Belgian Grand Prix ended on the first lap. The Brit was completely despondent in the media pen.

Russell collided with Lewis Hamilton at turn six, sending him into the gravel trap. The Mercedes driver was out on the spot, while his former teammate received a five-second time penalty.

Hamilton went on to finish fourth and moved back ahead of Russell in P2 in the standings. Kimi Antonelli now has a 50-point lead over his teammate, whose title hopes are slowly fading.

George Russell was ‘at a loss’ to say if he could bounce back after the Belgian Grand Prix

Russell unleashed his fury at Mercedes over the power unit and the battery after his retirement. He had been losing out to Antonelli on the straights all weekend and seemed powerless to combat the problem.

Russell just wants the same car as Antonelli, with the Italian looking much more comfortable within the W17. The Brit was completely dejected after the Belgian Grand Prix, and journalist and presenter Laura Winter had never seen him so low.

He will need to quickly turn things around with the Hungarian GP coming up this weekend, but Winter says that Russell was ‘at a loss for words’ when he was asked if he could do just that.

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

She said on the F1 Nation podcast: “These drivers have done a number of off-seasons and a number of summer shutdowns where they will have trained their minds to shut down from Formula 1.

“The reset, it can’t do him any harm, can it, at this point? Because he’s got to reset himself within three days now to go to the Hungaroring, and, yes, that may sort of paper over the cracks somewhat because it’s a different track, a different circuit, but the problems may still lie within the car.

“And I don’t know, it’s tough to get into George’s mind, but I think that was the most dejected I’ve seen him in the media pen.

Is George Russell fighting with one hand behind his back, or is Kimi Antonelli just too good?

Antonelli extends his lead in the standings to 44 points after Spa!

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“He was kind of at a loss for words at one point with a question about resetting and bouncing back. I don’t know whether there was emotion, I couldn’t quite see sort of the eyes from where I was sitting, watching, but you felt that the weight on his shoulders was enormous.”

It is clear that Russell is struggling with the car, but Antonelli has also suggested that Russell is underperforming, as he faced the same issue he had at Spa in Australia.

It means that the Italian has only ever been behind his teammate when he had problems with the car. Antonelli has always maintained the advantage, and Russell seems lost when it comes to finding a solution.