At the Belgian Grand Prix, George Russell made light of the fact that his Mercedes was underweight, claiming he simply “didn’t eat enough pizza.” After crossing the line, the British driver was disqualified by the FIA after a post-race inspection.
Russell’s disqualification brought an end to a difficult run of events; going into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in two weeks, he has not finished in the top six in his last five starts. That figure, nevertheless, does not fully capture the 26-year-old Brit’s situation.
Russell qualified on pole in Silverstone before a mechanical issue forced Mercedes to retire his car, and then in Belgium, he was left heartbroken by the aforementioned disqualification, which handed the victory to team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
That said, the Brit could have avoided the heartbreak with the aid of an unlikely helper: pizza. Speaking to supporters in the Italian Grand Prix fan zone, Russell and Hamilton were asked if they had eaten any of Italy’s most famous culinary export.
Hamilton responded: “We’re a bit too heavy right now, we can’t have pizza. We’re a bit fat at the moment. Last race, he was heavy and I was even heavier.” Russell then joked:
“Yeah in Spa I didn’t have my pizza so I was underweight and disqualified last week.
“[Then in] Zandvoort I had a lot of pizza and we were heavy and slow, so I need maybe half a pizza!” This produced a laugh from Hamilton, who added: “It’s true! We were overweight!”
The Italian GP weekend was another frustrating one for Russell. While there were no weight issues, his race unravelled early on. After challenging Oscar Piastri for second place from a P3 grid slot at Turn One, the Brit was forced to take to the escape road to avoid opening-lap contact.
Russell eventually made his way back past Perez later in the race after a front-wing change, but the Brit was unable to demonstrate his true pace as he settled in behind three-time world champion Verstappen. Hamilton, meanwhile, took the chequered flag in fifth.
The outcome of this finish is that Russell is now comfortably last of the eight drivers from the top four teams in the Drivers’ Championship standings. He trails Perez by 15 points with eight races remaining in 2024.
