Lewis Hamilton believes that, like his teammate, he could have managed to complete the Belgian Grand Prix with just one pit stop.

While the seven-time world champion said it was "disappointing" that his teammate's disqualification meant Mercedes lost out on a 1-2, one couldn't help but feel that deep down the Briton was allowing himself a wry smile.

Interviewed at race end he was clearly miffed at the team's decision to split strategies, stopping him twice even though he insisted that his tyres were good.

Asked if he thought a one-stop was possible, he said: "I think if you listen, 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."

Sunday's performance was 180 degrees compared to Friday when the German team had clearly struggled.

"It was literally night and day different today," said Hamilton. "On Friday, it was pretty disastrous for both of us, and really struggling with balance. And then today, the car came alive and I was really surprised to firstly get into the lead and then be pulled away from everyone.

"As I said, it felt fully under control. I've not had that for three years. And so that's why it was also a bit of a strange way to finish it. But it is great to go into the summer break with a 1-2. The team really deserved it and did such an amazing job."

The Silver Arrows now has three wins from the last four races.

"The car is a bit more comfortable," he said. "The balance through low to medium to high are all much more in line with what we had targeted. Yeah, that's about it."

In fact, Mercedes was totally caught out by Russell, believing that whether he stopped once or twice he was still unlikely to finish higher than fifth.

"We have these race planners, which tell us where the cars are going to come out at the end," explained Toto Wolff, "and at some stage we saw we had to cover Piastri and Leclerc with Lewis.

Insisting that putting Hamilton on a two-stopper was "absolutely clear cut", Wolff admitted that "nobody expected the hard to last", and consequently the team "went longer and longer and then the planners said P5 for George in either case, one stop or two stops".

"So we said, 'Let's take the gamble.' Both drivers at that stage felt happy with the tyres, but with Lewis we had to do it to cover the other cars. So we extended the stint and the tyre remained absolutely fine. It was pretty flat in terms of performance until the end."

As witnessed, Russell maintained a strong pace until the end, holding off his teammate and posting his own personal best lap time on the last lap.

However, all the time his tyres were wearing away and since a set of tyres (minus rims) can lose 3kg over a long stint that decision looks to have ultimately backfired for Russell.

"The loss of rubber from the one stop was a contributing factor," admitted Andrew Shovlin, "and we'll work to understand how it happened. We won't be making any excuses, though. It is clearly not good enough and we need to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Each track is different, each situation is different, and the wear is not linear," said Pirelli's Mario Isola. "It depends how much you push, and it depends if your balance is perfect, because then you would wear all four tyres."

Usually, drivers ensure that they pick-up marbles of rubber from the track at race end in order to compensate for the weight loss, however Isola suggests Russell didn't do this.

"Considering that he is 1.5 kilos underweight, 1.5 kilos on four tyres is possible if you are just talking about the pickup," he said. "If you have a lot of pickup, then for 1.5 kilos, it would be less than 400 grammes on each tyre. It’s a number that is possible."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Wokingchap, 04/08/2024 9:45

"@chester.... surely it is on the team, to tell George he'd risk being underweight by not pitting.....had they been on top of it ?"

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2. Posted by Apexing, 30/07/2024 12:42

"Wouldn't be the first time that a man's life has been changed by the lack of (a) rubber. "

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3. Posted by Great_white_shark, 30/07/2024 1:43

"And we question his strategy behind his move to Ferrari. Mercedes seem to be improving a lot more than Ferrari but he really wanted to wear a red race suit. I wouldn't be surprised if Max goes to Mercedes next year."

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4. Posted by kenji, 30/07/2024 0:36

"An interesting point has just struck me! Once the cars pass the chequered flag then the race is over and the cars are under 'parc ferme' conditions. Surely they are obviously adding something to car that wasn't there when the race was judged to be over and in breach of the 'parc ferme' rules......think about it."

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5. Posted by dejan, 29/07/2024 15:58

"In Spa because of the long lap after the finish line they go directly into the pit lane so no time or chance to pick up on marbles"

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6. Posted by Kemawi, 29/07/2024 14:26

"I the "old days", on a warm down lap, drivers would drive off line and pick up as many marbles and stones as they could to add weight? Don't they do it anymore? I race Formula Ford and after a race on way back to paddock for Parc Ferme, there must be a kg of stones and stuff stick to tyres."

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7. Posted by Chester, 29/07/2024 14:12

"George made the call on one stop. Hamilton could also have done this- but did not. This is not on the team."

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8. Posted by Batman, 29/07/2024 11:37

"This is the team's full responsibility. Don't play with a kilo again. There are thresholds for playing with weight, but don't play with a kilo again!!! We're talking about 18 points and piles of $ flying around. It could have been 25. Sometimes I'm baffled by this kind of misjudgment in an environment like this."

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9. Posted by VC10-1103, 29/07/2024 11:27

"Wokingchap - Spa is different. There is no cool down lap. Cars cross the line, go round turn 1 and enter the pits from the "wrong end"."

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10. Posted by Jet Jockey, 29/07/2024 10:59

"Too bad for George and Mercedes but it is not the first time and I suspect not the last that a car will be disqualified for being under weight after a race… Many F1 champions lost races in the past because their cars did not meet the minimum weight."

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11. Posted by Wokingchap, 29/07/2024 10:32

"400 grams is possible pick up on each tyre, so how on earth did the team not "pick up" on that?
I find it extremely slack.... even stupid if i may say so....that a team at their level could allow this to happen. "

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