Sparks flew between Hamilton and Russell and the Englishman explained his maneuver

Mercedes had a F1 Japanese GP 2023 very moved and tense, not only because of his battle on the track for position with the Ferraris, in the middle of the battle for second position in the Constructors’ World Championship, but also because of the battle for position between his two drivers. Things finally ended without a hitch for the star. Leclerc was 4th, but hamilton He minimized the damage in 5th position, preventing Sainz (6th) from overtaking him with better race pace and good tire wear on his Ferrari. But for a while, sparks flew between the two drivers of the Brackley team.

Hamilton’s aggressive action against Russell

The first controversial action between the two drivers took place on lap 16. Lewis Hamilton had some problems with the balance of his car and his teammate, George Russell, came with better speed from behind. The 25-year-old driver attempted to overtake on the outside at turn 13. But Hamilton, on the inside, defended his position by unnaturally opening his lane, cornering and leaving his own teammate with no space. This forced Russell to spin off the track to get back behind Hamilton again.

That’s when Russell exploded on the radio: “Who do we want to fight, against ourselves or against others?”said Williams’ ex, making it clear that Lewis’ maneuvering was pointless and that his focus should not be on his fight for position, but on his fight with the Ferraris.

Hamilton’s defense took time between the two of them which could be key in their battle against the Ferraris and will lose all meaning if we consider that Lewis entered the pits at the end of the same lap. Furthermore, George Russell opted for a one-stop approach, which was completely different, so Lewis didn’t have to put the brakes on his teammate’s tires because their races were so different.

Hamilton’s explanation

After the test, Lewis Hamilton sang a ‘mea culpa’ saying he didn’t want his teammate to be cornered and it all happened because he accidentally overbraked.

“We had the closest battle, especially at the beginning of the race. I was struggling with the balance, we took off a lot of wings on the car and I had some problems. There were two times George was very close and I had ” I had a braking pass and went wide. It wasn’t the cleanest race on my part,” Hamilton commented on that.

Russell and Hamilton, new complaint

Another point for controversy is the finish of the race. Hamilton was chased by Carlos Sainz, who was faster because he had younger tires. Russell was ahead of Lewis, who had a one-stop approach and older tires. The team asked George to let Hamilton pass, something George was not entirely happy about, remembering past appointments. “This is an instruction”They answered on the radio, making it clear that he had to follow orders. And at the final chicane, George passed Hamilton, something Lewis said should have been done sooner.

There, Mercedes asked Hamilton not to run away and to keep Russell close to give him the DRS and thus help him so that Sainz would not overtake him. Sainz laughed in the car and recalled that “they were using my tactics against me”in relation to the DRS maneuver he did with Norris in Singapore that was key to achieving victory at Marina Bay.

That action did not help Mercedes, as Sainz was superior and overtook George. However, there was little he could do to overtake a Hamilton who did not agree to the order to give DRS to his teammate, because if Sainz were to quickly pass George, that would leave him in a weaker position against Carlos .

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said of the DRS action. When they suggested it to me, I knew they had obviously thought about it because of the last race and it didn’t make sense. I was about two seconds ahead, and then they asked me to give George DRS, so I had to take off the throttle on the straight to put him 0.8 behind. Then he took DRS, but passed him, which would happen because he was one stop and we were two. But he passed him and Sainz was just behind me. So, it’s not perfect. He worked very hard in the last laps. But I think, as a team, we should be thankful for fifth and seventh place; It’s better than sixth and seventh.”he pointed out.

“We should have changed positions a lap earlier and I should have made as much progress as possible to maintain the biggest possible gap to the Ferraris,” He commented, making it clear that George should have given him the place back then and that trying to keep Hamilton behind hurt him more against Sainz: “I think if we had switched places earlier, maybe it would have been better for George to hide Sainz. But because he was trying to fight me and destroying his tires, I think it became more complicated.”

They underestimated its importance

However, after the race, Mercedes was calm and happy with its decision to let its drivers fight “hard” and the two drivers assured that there were no problems and that the main thing was the common goal of the team.

“The truth is that we are not fighting ourselves in the team championship, because in the Drivers’ World Championship it doesn’t matter where we are. The important thing is that one of us is ahead of Ferrari to keep the position, so now we really have to work as a team,” Hamilton commented.

“No hard feelings,” said George Russell, also confirming that Hamilton needs the points more than he does because of his fight for third place in the Drivers’ World Championship.

“We were united here, but the way the race was, my tires ended up at the end. I have a goal for the team to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship. Lewis has had a very consistent season this year, he is in a battle for third place in the Drivers’ Championship. At worst, we lost by two extra points there, but we could have finished with four points less, so I think the team made the right decision. For me, there is no resentment. “We have to work on the car and we can’t be upset about a possible fifth or sixth place and sixth or seventh.”Russell concluded.