General
No team orders at Mercedes: "We will allow them to race"
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton will not have to deal with team orders at Mercedes. This is what Toto Wolff announced at the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. George Russell scored more points for the time being in 2022 and is statistically the biggest contender within the German formation to become world champion, but Hamilton will not have to give way at this stage.
The seven-time world champion is 28 points behind teammate George Russell with sixth place in the world championship. After a difficult first six Grands Prix, the driver from Williams is "only" 36 points behind World Championship leader Max Verstappen. A world title is still not excluded, but Mercedes will not throw all the balls on Russell.
No team orders at Mercedes
"One hundred per cent we will allow them to race," Wolff told The Telegraph about possible team orders. "Until a driver is mathematically out of contention, we’re not making such a call.” Even if the roles had been reversed and Hamilton had had a sizeable lead over Russell in the world championship, this would have been the case, according to the Mercedes team boss. "It makes no difference."
There is quite a scenario imaginable where Russell loses the connection to a Max Verstappen or a Charles Leclerc in a race on Sunday or in terms of points in the world championship because Hamilton holds up his young teammate or finishes ahead of him. Hamilton won't have to give way, but it will ultimately be at the expense of Mercedes' chances in the World Championship. What happens then? "I think that then the constructors’ championship becomes the priority,” Wolff said.