Lewis Hamilton called his first-lap collision with George Russell at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix "a racing incident", as the Ferrari driver was handed a five-second time penalty for the contact that eliminated the Mercedes from the race.
Hamilton, who started fifth, overtook Russell along the Kemmel Straight before the Mercedes driver moved to the outside under braking at Les Combes, making contact. Russell was pitched into the gravel and out of the race.
The stewards handed Hamilton a five-second time penalty, which the seven-time World Champion served during a Lap 20 pit stop under Virtual Safety Car conditions. Despite the damage and the penalty, Hamilton finished fourth, now 45 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) in the Drivers' standings.
"Ultimately, sorry for George because that obviously ended his race, but I do agree that it was a racing incident," said Hamilton. "It's not like I went in aggressive or was misplaced. I think it was just an unfortunate scenario, which happens in racing. Then I had damage as well, so I carried that through the race. It was a tough one."
Russell placed no blame on Hamilton for the collision. The Briton had a difficult weekend in Belgium, having crashed at the end of FP3 which put his mechanics under pressure to repair his car for Qualifying. During the race, his pit stop under VSC also saw him hit a mechanic with his front-right tyre — an incident that led to a €30,000 fine for Ferrari.
"Hugely grateful for the points given the damage and given the crash yesterday," Hamilton added. "Without the damage, and probably without yesterday, I think we could have been fighting for the win today."
Sources
- Formula 1 — 'It was a racing incident' – Hamilton offers opinion on Russell clash in Belgian Grand Prix (https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/it-was-a-racing-incident-hamilton-offers-opinion-on-russell-clash-in-belgian-grand-prix.1HzGN8jH6iIGR9hDNe99cQ)
