{"id":816090,"date":"2026-07-21T09:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/816090\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T09:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:49:12","slug":"new-george-russell-evidence-in-untelevised-belgian-gp-team-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/816090\/","title":{"rendered":"New George Russell evidence in untelevised Belgian GP team radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Untelevised team radio footage from the Belgian Grand Prix has revealed the moment George Russell<\/a> was told that Mercedes<\/a> was \u201chappy with the SOC level\u201d moments before the start of the race at Spa.<\/p>\n

It comes after Russell was heard complaining that he had \u201cno f**cking battery down the straight\u201d following his retirement on the opening lap.<\/p>\n

Mercedes \u2018happy with SOC level\u2019 before George Russell disaster<\/p>\n

Russell was eliminated on the first lap at Spa after a collision with Lewis Hamilton\u2019s Ferrari at Les Combes.<\/p>\n

His third non-score in six races saw Russell slip to third in the drivers\u2019 standings and 50 points behind Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who collected his sixth victory of the F1 2026 season at Spa.<\/p>\n

After starting third, behind Antonelli and Max Verstappen, Russell held the position through the first series of corners before an issue with battery deployment saw him lose two positions on the Kemmel straight to Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n

Analysis: Belgian Grand Prix<\/p>\n

Belgian GP conclusions: Spa sacrilege, Russell rattled, Verstappen temptation<\/a><\/p>\n

Belgian GP 2026 Driver Ratings: Antonelli delivers, Verstappen shines, McLaren left wondering<\/a><\/p>\n

In his attempt to re-pass Hamilton around the outside at Les Combes, Russell made contact with the Ferrari before spinning into the gravel.<\/p>\n

Russell was heard shouting at Mercedes over team radio in the immediate aftermath of his retirement, asking what had happened to the SOC (state of charge) of his battery.<\/p>\n

A new message by Russell\u2019s race engineer, Marcus Dudley, has revealed that the British driver was reassured before the start of the race that Mercedes was \u201chappy with the SOC level.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has also emerged that Russell was instructed to perform a \u201cboost press at full power\u201d on the exit of Turn 2, more commonly known as Eau Rouge.<\/p>\n

The full exchange from the start of the formation lap went as follows:<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cClutch was on target, then pulled back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cSo some drivers reporting spots of rain on their visors. We\u2019re not expecting this to amount to anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cKeep working those tyres.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cAnd blue 10, position seven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cAnd green 12, position one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cAnd will be four burnouts, starting at the old DRS line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cFinal burnout. P9 Lawson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cSo we are happy with SOC level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cAnd just a reminder for that boost press at full power, exit Turn 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cLast car approaching back of the grid\u2026 stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the race begins, Russell is reminded for a second time to activate boost.<\/p>\n

Dudley: \u201cReminder: boost press.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell: \u201cI\u2019m out! What the f**k happened with the SOC down the straight? Had no f**king battery down the straight!\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell: \u201cGuys! Unacceptable! Un-f**king-acceptable!\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets after returning to the paddock: \u201cNumb to the disappointment now. When it happens so often, you just get used to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor whatever reason, the battery decided not to recharge at Turn 1. I went around the first corner, the battery didn\u2019t charge and I exited the first corner 35 per cent down.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it didn\u2019t charge, I also had a boost problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe turbo didn\u2019t sort itself out, so I had no power. I got to the top of Eau Rouge with zero per cent on the battery. Quite frankly, it was dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got swamped by three cars. Shouldn\u2019t have been in that position in the first place and that\u2019s why I\u2019m most angry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incident with Lewis, honestly, I think was a racing incident. He didn\u2019t do anything reckless, it was just one of those things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just most angry that I was in that position in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a great position out of Turn 1 and I was ready to fight the two guys ahead of me up to Turn 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, I get swamped by three drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell has complained of a lack of straight-line speed from his Mercedes over the last two rounds in Britain and Belgium.<\/p>\n

PlanetF1.com data analyst Uros Radovanovic revealed that Russell was 10 kilometres per hour slower than Antonelli around Blanchimont<\/a> in Q3 at Spa (below), contributing to an overall loss of 0.367 seconds in the final sector.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/\"\"\/<\/p>\n

PlanetF1.com reported after qualifying that Russell\u2019s deficit on the straights<\/a> is likely related to his different driving style to Antonelli with the F1 2026 engines, leaving him using more energy earlier and paying for it as the lap unfolds.<\/p>\n

Thomas Maher wrote: \u201cThe working hypothesis within the team has been suggested to be down to driving style techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this very modern and not-quite-natural Formula 1, the conservation of momentum through corners is not just critical for immediate lap time, but also in terms of energy conservation for later in the lap as the effects compound.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Russell] being slower out of Blanchimont may be down to a smidge more energy being used under acceleration half a lap [earlier].\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Read next: F1 2026 turned Spa into a different circuit \u2013 and the data exposes why<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Untelevised team radio footage from the Belgian Grand Prix has revealed the moment George Russell was told that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":816091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[16873,49,48,578,576,577,3024,1613,1881,44,22395,82],"class_list":["post-816090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-belgian-grand-prix","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-george-russell","tag-home-page","tag-mercedes","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}