Lewis Hamilton immediately took the opportunity to show his class after being beaten by team-mate George Russell to the Belgian Grand Prix crown, congratulating his British compatriot at the first opportunity.

The seven-time world champion was favoured to claim his second race win of the season at Spa, having already tasted success at Silverstone, and had just Russell ahead of him who was attempting a one-stop victory.

Hamilton’s tyres were much fresher than Russell’s and as Mercedes allowed the pair to race with five laps remaining, many had expected Russell to begrudgingly concede first place due to a lack of grip.

However, Russell was able to hold on and deny Hamilton what would have been a morale-boosting victory, as the 39-year-old was notably dejected when getting out of his car.

But Hamilton showed his class and highlighted the strong relationship that the pair have by going out of his way to commend Russell on the victory.

“We didn’t expect this,” Hamilton said in his post-race interview. “First, I have to say congrats to George and the team.

“We had such a disaster on Friday. The car was really nowhere. We made some changes, hard to see what it was going to feel like because of the wet yesterday, but the car was fantastic today and we really owe it to everyone, both here doing a solid job with pit stops and strategy, and the guys back at the factory.”

When asked about his difficulties in overcoming Russell on the final few laps, Hamilton replied: “I was trying to get close to him but George did a great job on going long on the tyres. Every stint, I had tyres left. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is.

“No (we can’t win the Championship). But if we can continue these performances and start our weekends better, we can continue. We’ve just got to keep pushing. I think the McLaren was very strong today but we were just a bit further ahead early on. We’ve just got to keep pushing.”

With five laps remaining, Hamilton was just over a second behind Russell on tyres that had been worn out at Spa and about to enter DRS range, but he still could not get past his team-mate.

And it was clear to see how much the victory meant to Russell, securing his second race win of the campaign, who shouted and thanked his team over the radio after crossing the chequered line before diving into the Mercedes staff in jubilation while Hamilton watched on from the sidelines.