Opinion: Hamilton should have given Russell a second weekend in the Mercedes

Until last Thursday, George Russell walked with the Silver Arrows, with his thoughts set on a second weekend with the team. After being robbed of victory twice at Sakhir, by rare fiddling with the top team, the Williams driver would undoubtedly have seen this weekend as the chance for a win. Russell confirms this in a conversation with Motorsport.com: “Prior to Bahrain, I really wanted to have the two weeks in the car, purely because I was expecting to learn everything I needed to in Bahrain and I could have come here with no excuses, as such.” 

Well, ‘giving’ is generally not a common term in top sport; there is often talk of drivers without and with a winner's mentality, depending on whether they have the drive to turn every race moment into a hunt for the number one position. Hamilton therefore has every right to fight for victory right up to the last race. But since the title has already been won by both Hamilton and Mercedes, the question arises as to whether they have not already proved themselves winners enough this season. And what would it have cost Hamilton to give Russell a second chance in his Mercedes? Holidays brought forward one week.

One of the reasons why Hamilton will be reluctant to give Russell a second weekend at the Silver Arrows has to do with his contract negotiations with Toto Wolff. There has been much speculation about this after Russell's sparkling race at Sakhir: Why should Toto Wolff pay the top prize for Hamilton when Russell can deliver similar results for less? It is therefore understandable that Hamilton wants to give Russell as little chance as possible to showcase his talents in a top car, but the seven-time world champion cannot ignore the fact that sooner or later Wolff will offer Russell a seat with Mercedes.

While Lewis Hamilton is fully within his rights to race during the last weekend in Abu Dhabi, and George Russell will have his chance at Mercedes regardless of how soon he gets there, it would have been a credit to Lewis Hamilton's sporting spirit if he had given his young fellow countryman the chance to regain his honour in the Mercedes.