The Japanese GP was a low race for Mercedes and it seems that Lewis Hamilton had some criticism against the strategy of Mercedes. Following an unimpressive qualifying against the frontrunning teams, Mercedes were trying to find a good finish under supervision of their drivers.
During the race, there came a moment where George Russell used his DRS to fend off Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. Hamilton on the other hand was not in support of this move calling it as not a good idea to use against Sainz.
Lewis Hamilton talks on the use of DRS
During the race, George Russell was fighting against the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz which could potentially pass him in a head to head battle. Owing to this, Russell asked for a DRS help and subsequently Lewis Hamilton was asked to slow down in order to accomplish this plan.
But, Hamilton doesn’t like this idea explaining the media post race how this tactics, made it difficult for Lewis deliver in later stages of the race.
“It made it very hard for me the last couple of laps. I didn’t think that was a good idea at all. When they suggested it to me, I knew they’d thought of it from the last race. It made no sense, I needed to get as far ahead as possible and I was two seconds ahead and they asked me to come off the gas to give George DRS down the straight.”
“Then he got DRS but then he got overtaken by [Sainz] which was gonna happen because he was on a one-stop. And then (Sainz) was right on my tail. Not ideal. It made it very hard for me the last couple of laps but a fifth and seventh is better than a sixth and seventh,”
This was certainly not an ideal situation for both of them and Lewis was not happy with the results.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s feud at Japanese GP explained
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell arguably have one of the most intense rivalries of the season. The two were battling fiercely during the race to get ahead of each other and it seemed like a fight was inevitable.
During the initial stage of the race, Lewis was passed by his teammate before he regained position in Turn 1. Another incident forced them off track around the Spoon Curve when George tried to pull off another move on Lewis. This tussle cause some heated exchange of words between them.
Japanese GP was a no shocker for the dominance of Red Bull and it was disappointing for Mercedes who were hoping to build up on the success of Singapore GP. What do you think about team relations among Mercedes drivers, are they sour or on good terms.
