In truth, Russell had outclassed Hamilton around the Spa circuit, with the seven-time world champion gaining on the one-stopping Russell on much fresher tyres, before being unable to overtake his fellow Brit despite the clear tyre deficit.
Russell drove brilliantly, and was commended from all corners despite the disqualification, which appeared to be through no fault of his own.
Now, Russell has said that he will always class his Spa performance as a win, suggesting a total disregard of the FIA ruling that snatched his brilliant victory away from him.
"Nobody can take that feeling away from me, from crossing the line, celebrating with my team, standing on the podium," he told media ahead of the Dutch GP.
"I think if I was in the championship fight this year it would have been a much bigger blow to us those 25 points, but this season unfortunately we’re not quite there.
"That race, I lost 25 points, but in my mind, that is still a win," he continued.
"I’ve kept my helmet and it’s going to be going on my bedside table with my other two victories. Those celebrations I had with the team in that moment, straight after, were some of the best feelings of my career. So I’ll only take positives from what happened."