(Motorsports news) As Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz closed in, the Mercedes drivers ran together on the course. With Hamilton on fresher tyres and potentially faster than one-stopper Russell, the team agreed to Hamilton’s request to put him in front, leaving Russell to fend off Sainz for as long as he could.
Russell questioned the idea at first, recommending that the team wait until the final lap, but he agreed after being told it was an instruction. In turn, he requested that Hamilton assist his defense by providing DRS, adding that it was the “least he could do” given “he pushed me off the track earlier.”
Hamilton agreed to assist, but Sainz quickly overtook him. However, the Spaniard was powerless to stop Hamilton. Russell stated after the race that he had no problem with the team orders because the goal was to improve Mercedes’ overall result. “Of course,” he replied when asked if he accepted the position swap.
“You use the radio as a release valve because it’s so hot in the car, it’s a long race, you’re pushing for an hour and a half, you’re fighting for every inch. Our primary goal is to finish second in the constructors’ championship.” For me, the drivers’ title is completely out of the question; Lewis is in a terrific position to compete for a good position.
“But the goal is just to finish ahead of Ferrari this season, keep on working for next year, so yeah, no issues on my side.” Mercedes, according to Sainz, may have made his life more difficult by leaving Hamilton behind.
“Of course, it’s difficult for the team to judge,” Russell said. “However, as I previously stated, I only have one goal for the team: to finish second in the constructors’ championship.” This year, Lewis has had a very consistent season. In the drivers’ championship, he is fighting for third place.
“In the worst-case scenario, we lost two extra points there.” However, we could have ended up with four points less, so on average, the team made the correct decision. “And no hard feelings from me.” As I already stated, we must focus on the car, and we will not be concerned about a potential fifth and sixth defeat against a fifth and a seventh.”
Although the competition appeared to be tense at times, Russell emphasized that it was fair. “I viewed it as good, hard racing,” he stated. “I was pleased to be in a position to put him under pressure and make moves on him.” So I’d take the good out of that. “Considering how difficult the car has been to drive this weekend, I thought my pace was really strong.” It’s simply hard fair racing. Of course, we spent some time arguing with one another.
“And again, you are a bit frustrated on the radio, it’s just part of racing.” When asked if it ever went too far, he replied, “No. We were both distracted by the traffic around us. As I already stated, we are not going to hand over the post lightly. The race was still in its early stages.
“I had more speed, but he was the car ahead, so as I said, part of racing, we’re not even going to talk about it.” There is nothing to debate. We’ve got larger fish to fry, which is how to speed up our car.”
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