Mercedes has acknowledged Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s team spirit in the Miami Grand Prix. Despite having different tyre strategies, Hamilton did not resist Russell’s pass, allowing him to fight for P4 with Carlos Sainz.
The decision showed the drivers’ selflessness and focus on the team’s goals, even as Mercedes dealt with various challenges. In a team debrief video, Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin provided insights into the reasoning behind Hamilton’s move.
“We asked Lewis to let George go because they were in different races,” Shovlin explained.
“Lewis was on the Hard-Medium strategy and George was on the Medium-Hard. 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.”
The Silver Arrows have faced a tough start to the season, grappling with problems related to the W14.
In this trying time, Shovlin concedes that the teamwork and collaboration exhibited by Hamilton and Russell have proved to be highly advantageous for the team.
“Fundamentally we haven’t got the car that we want,” Shovlin continued.
“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.
“Whether it’s seeing them cooperating on track or cooperating in the office trying to solve problems by trying to share information that helps us to develop.
“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.”
During his discussion, Andrew Shovlin also shed light on the latest development direction for the Imola upgrades.
“What we are going to be bringing to the track at Imola is the first step really of that work. This takes quite a long time to develop in the wind tunnel – you can’t just do these things overnight, but the Imola package are the first steps in that direction.
“Now, we’re hoping to bring other updates later in the year. We do hope that it’s quicker, we hope it’s better in terms of qualifying and race pace.
“But as I said, the key thing is we’re not just looking to bring a lap time update. We’re looking to head off in a different development direction, one that we think gives us a better chance in the long term of being able to challenge for race wins and World Championships.”
