During last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton revealed a disadvantage George Russell has in Formula 1, in a YouTube video which has since gone private.
At Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, Hamilton met Mercedes’ esports team, where he was stunned by the height of sim racer Dani Bereznay.
Bereznay stands at 6ft 7 inches, significantly taller than Hamilton.
It’s also much taller than Russell, who is 6ft 1 inches.
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Hamilton joked that Bereznay would “never fit” in Mercedes’ W14, with it being something which Russell only just manages.
“You’re lucky you can do sim [virtual] racing because you would never fit in my car…George somehow fits in, but you’re way taller than George,” Hamilton said in the video.
When he first met the esports drivers, Hamilton referred to them as “speed demons”.
The seven-time World Champion is a couple of inches shorter than Russell, measuring 5ft 9 inches.
Russell is actually just one centimetre off being the tallest driver on the grid, with that accolade being shared between Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon.
At 5ft 3 inches, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda is the shortest driver on the grid.
After meeting the esports drivers, Hamilton went on to have a frustrating Belgian GP, despite having qualified in third.
Hamilton was slapped with a five-second time penalty in the sprint race which demoted him from fourth to seventh, after being deemed at fault for a collision with Sergio Perez.
Hamilton slid up Perez’s inside at Turn 15 but veered into the side of the Mexican, following a bout of understeer.
The impact pierced a hole in Perez’s right sidepod, which forced him to later retire from the sprint.
Hamilton and one of the stewards argued that it was nothing more than a racing incident; however, the other stewards believed otherwise.
The Mercedes driver also received two penalty points.
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Sunday’s race was significantly less eventful for Hamilton, who finished in a lonely fourth.
He did at least claim the fastest lap of the race, following a very late pit-stop for fresh tyres.
This prevented reigning World Champion Max Verstappen from completing the Grand Slam, following another imperious display by the Dutchman.