Russell 'numb to disappointment' after bitter blow to title hopes

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, George Russell's Mercedes spins into retirement after colliding with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps Published 15 minutes ago George Russell says he is "numb to the disappointment" after another problem at the Belgian Grand Prix led to him losing nearly all the ground in the championship he had gained on team-mate Kimi Antonelli in the past month. Russell crashed out on the first lap at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday after a collision with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who was penalised for the incident. With Antonelli winning for the sixth time in 10 races this season, the Italian doubled his lead over Russell in one fell swoop. "When it happens so often, you just get used to it," Russell said. The Briton's remarks are a reference to the series of issues he has suffered this year that have contributed to Antonelli's lead. These include technical issues in China qualifying, a safety car turning the race on its head in Japan, a retirement while leading in Canada, and the still-unresolved farrago over erroneous pit-lane speeding penalties in Monaco. Russell said after the British Grand Prix last time out, where Antonelli suffered a second problem in three races that prevented him scoring, that the issues had now pretty much equalised across the two cars. He felt his 25-point deficit after that race was a fair reflection of the balance of performance across the season. So to have it upended again so soon was a bitter blow. Antonelli wins to extend lead after Russell crashes out Published 2 hours ago Antonelli near-perfect but too much drama for Hamilton - driver ratings Published 2 hours ago "I made a good start, I made a great first corner and I was choked up right behind [Max] Verstappen," Russell said. "But for whatever reason, the battery decided not to recharge at Turn One. "So I went round the first corner, the battery didn't charge and I exited the first corner 35% down [on electrical energy]. "Because it didn't charge, I also had a boost problem. The turbo didn't sort itself out, so I had no power. "I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0% on the battery. Quite frankly, it was dangerous. I got swamped by three cars. "I shouldn't have been in that position in the first place. That's why I'm most angry. The incident with Lewis, honestly, I think was a racing incident. "He didn't do it on purpose. He was more to blame than me. But he didn't do anything reckless. That was one of those things. "I'm just most angry that I was in that position in the first place. I was in a great position out of Turn One and I was ready to fight the two guys ahead of me up to Turn Five. Instead, I get swamped by three drivers." As if that was not enough, this latest engine issue followed a weekend in which Mercedes had been chasing another one. After being more than a second slower than Antonelli in Friday practice, Russell had been told by t