Hamilton irritated with Mercedes' decision: 'Strange way to finish it'

Lewis Hamilton is irritated with his Mercedes team after the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished second behind his teammate George Russell, who was placed on a one-stop. Hamilton claims he suggested similar on the radio but pitted when he didn't want to.

Hamilton closed on Russell in the final laps of the race. With a tyre advantage, the seven-time World Champion was favourite to make the overtake but brilliant defence from Russell ensured the younger Brit stayed ahead. Russell completed an extremely long stint on his tyres and Hamilton was left questioning why he didn't get moved to a one-stop.

"George did a great job today. It was a fantastic effort to go to one stop. It was pretty smooth sailing [for me], to be honest. I was fully in control. I had plenty of pace and tyres and just didn't end up as planned. You could have heard what I said to the team most of the time. I think the tyres were pretty good. I still had plenty of tyres and I was going quicker. I didn't want to stop. I just said the tyres were fine and I'm happy," an irritated Hamilton said.

"I was really surprised to first get into the lead and then be pulling away from everyone. It felt fully under control. I've not had that for three years and so that's why it was also a strange way to finish it. But it's great to go into the summer break with the one-two," Hamilton concluded.

Hamilton now goes into his final summer break as a Mercedes driver. In 2025, the Brit will move to Ferrari but will hope to close in on Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclec and others in the final 10 races of the season.