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Mercedes explains why Hamilton didn't make a fuss about team order Russell
- GPblog.com
Given the current form of the W14, Mercedes could leave Miami relatively satisfied with fourth and sixth place and thus a good number of points in their pocket. A notable moment during the race occurred when Lewis Hamilton was asked to let George Russell pass. Andrew Shovlin answers the question of why the seven-time world champion simply complied with that request.
At some point during the Miami Grand Prix, a clip from Hamilton's on-board radio sounded, in which his engineer asked him to let Russell pass. The 38-year-old Briton then said his younger teammate could pass, although he mentioned by way of warning that he did not intend to back out of the fight.
Hamilton let Russell past with a warning
Shovlin, technical director at Mercedes, explained why Hamilton did not take issue with the request. "We'd asked Lewis to let George go because they were in different races. Lewis was on the hard medium strategy, George was on the medium hard," said the 49-year-old Briton in a video on Mercedes' YouTube channel.
"They weren't forecast to finish together, but ultimately, it gave us a better chance of a result with George if Lewis was happy just to let him go," he adds. Hamilton crossed the finishing line 18 seconds later than Russell, after a catch-up race that started from 13th place.
Mercedes: 'Fundamentally not the car we want'
The fact that Mercedes cannot currently fight for the leading positions makes it all the more important for the drivers to work together, according to Shovlin. "Fundamentally, we haven't got the car that we want, we haven't got a car at the moment that can challenge for championships and both drivers are working hard to try and achieve that," he continued.
That is why both drivers are working together, both on the track and in the office, to share information that will help the team develop the W14. "It is really useful that the two of them are focused on getting our car to a level where we can fight for wins, can fight for championships and not worrying too much now about the fight between themselves," Shovlin said.