GEORGE RUSSELL completed his redemption by battling to a shock victory at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes man said: “Amazing strategy, you guys are the best” after he fought from sixth in the grid to first after a lacklustre qualifying session.
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labelled Russell the “tyre whisperer” after the race, given he endured a whopping 34 laps on his tyres before crossing the line.
It will be extra special for the British 26-year-old given his petrol nightmare in Hungary when he ran out of fuel in qualifying, leaving him starting in 17th, and having to reitre his car in Silverstone before that.
It will be a tough one to take for Hamilton who was snapping at the heels of his teammate by half a second until the very end as Oscar Piastri settled for third. .
The seven-time world champion had not won a race for all of last season but has come alive since Barcelona.
He nabbed his first podium of the year in Spain with a third-place finish before his Silverstone heroics.
Hamilton enjoyed a blistering start in his Mercedes, overtaking Sergio Perez on the first-lap.
The seven-time world champion then eased past Charles Leclerc and into the lead on lap three.
Lando Norris suffered another miserable start as he slipped from fourth into seventh.
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By lap 22 Max Verstappen was battling with his old pal Norris, having bulldozed away from starting in 11th place due to a grid penalty.
Small mistakes hurt Norris throughout who had a go at overtaking the Dutchman into the final chicane of lap 24 but locked up and veered off the track.
Russell led the charge with eight laps to go but Hamilton was chipping away at his teammate in second.
Oscar Piastri danced around the outside of Leclerc to take third-place as he trailed Hamilton by five seconds on lap 36.
Russell, Hamilton and Piastri were separated by a whisker in the final eight laps which was a welcome sight at a track which has been so used to Verstappen’s dominance.