Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were both left frustrated on the team radio after Mercedes made a controversial strategy decision in the closing stages of the Japanese Grand Prix. Russell lost crucial points at Suzuka while Hamilton was also annoyed not to have been let past his team-mate earlier than he was.
The Silver Arrows were scrapping over P5 and P6 with season-long rivals Ferrari when seventh-placed Carlos Sainz began to close on Hamilton and Russell with mere laps remaining.
Russell had opted for an unconventional one-stop strategy, leaving him vulnerable to the threat of Sainz without the DRS of Hamilton. The 25-year-old Brit was running in P5 as the trio closed up.
With Hamilton running behind Russell and Leclerc out of catching distance further up the road, the younger of the Mercedes duo was able to hang on if the seven-time world champion stayed behind as a rear-gunner.
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Instead, Mercedes decided to invert the drivers, instructing the man from King’s Lynn to hand the position to the faster Hamilton, who had previously hoped to be unleashed in order to have a shot at Leclerc in P4.
This prompted a confused reaction from Russell, who had instead asked to invert the cars on the final lap of the race to give him the best possible shot of holding on to crucial points in the Constructors’ Championship battle.
Despite his protests, Russell was told that Mercedes’ instructions were an order and not a suggestion with the British driver handing the position over to Hamilton into turn one.
The team’s new plan was for Hamilton to give Russell DRS and keep him in play, but due to the latter’s poor traction out of the final corner, Sainz managed to snatch the place.
Coming onto the team radio, Russell complained: “You want to play the team game, but he pushed me off the track earlier, it’s the least he can do.”
Hamilton also took some issue with the team’s strategy, stating: “We wasted all that time for no reason.” These points lost could be costly for Mercedes as Ferrari continue to close in.
