Mercedes has explained how the team orders call during the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix helped George Russell to secure a double podium for the team.
In the closing stages of Zandvoort’s farewell, a VSC saw several drivers dash into the pits for a new set of tyres. However, the front runners, Lando Norris and Russell, stayed out, aiming to finish the race on their existing tyres. But as expected, Russell was immediately under pressure from his World Champion rival, and team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
Instead of the pair fighting, the Brackley team invoked team orders and asked Russell to let Antonelli through to second while he defended against the fast-charging Ferrari duo behind. Whilst complying with the team’s wishes, the Briton quizzed the pit wall.
However, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has officially shut down these claims, stating the team orders were to save Russell from the threat of the Ferrari’s behind.
“The VSC came out on lap 55, [and] both Ferraris took it, so they were going to be on fresh rubber by the restart,” Shovlin explained on Mercedes’ social media platforms.
“On Lap 56, we still had a window where we could get Kimi in and put him ahead of both of those Ferraris, which put him in a great position to finish ahead of them. And George was running P4 prior to that.
How exactly did Mercedes team orders benefit Russell?
Shovlin explained that the team opted to keep Russell on track to gain position under the VSC. However, the three cars behind the Briton were all on new tyres, leaving Russell at risk of dropping down to fifth place from the podium.
Instead of allowing Russell to lose crucial time and tyre life whilst battling Antonelli, the Brackley team opted for the more controversial approach, in team orders.
“Kimi dropped behind George after the stop,” Shovlin continued.
“Now, why did we invert the cars? Well, that was really about saving George race time.
Kimi had the grip to get through, but if we’d allowed them to race each other, George would have lost time to the Ferraris, and the Ferraris would have had more time to attack and try to get through.”
“Now, as it happened, George defended brilliantly and it was great to see him on the podium. He really deserved that result.”
The British engineer praised Russell for his brilliant defence in the closing stages of the race. Claiming that the decision was based on Russell’s ability to defend against his former team-mate and Charles Leclerc.
“One of the highlights of the race was just seeing how brilliantly George defended against those Ferraris,” Shovlin said. “There was no guarantee he was going to be able to hold those positions and on a couple of occasions, Lewis looked like he was going to get down the inside.
“George did just enough to prevent it happening. So, really impressive and honestly, he’s put together a really impressive weekend, start to finish, sprint pole, sprint victory and very solid qualifying and really smart racing. So good to see George getting back into it.
Russell shares his thoughts on the strategy call
Team orders are common in F1, but in past seasons, they have become extremely controversial. Particularly when two drivers are direct championship rivals and the order benefits one significantly more.
Mercedes may not be at ‘Papaya Rules’ levels yet, but many have started wondering if the team are already favouring Antonelli over Russell. Whilst Toto Wolff claimed it to be ‘too early’ in the season to pick a favourite for the title, decisions like Zandvoort raise speculation across the fandom.
Importantly, Russell doesn’t see it as ‘sabotage’ from his team. Rather, the 27-year-old understood the decision from his team to let Antonelli chase Norris in first.
“We’ve always said as a team, when we’re on different strategies, we’re never going to fight and we’re always going to invert,” Russell explained.
“And that’s always just been our sort of rules. And the fact is, Kimi was ahead of me before the VSC, and he tried something different to, you know, protect us as a team. He kind of copy-pasted what the Ferraris did.
“Yeah, could I have kept him behind? Maybe. But equally, you know, it could have been a P5 as well. So, in the end, you know, he deserved to be P2. I think P3 was a fair result for me and, yes, a long season.”
Despite this, it was a successful weekend for Russell. With a double podium finish in Zandvoort, he moves back up into second in the Drivers’ Standings.
Heading into Monza, he has a 59-point gap to his team-mate and Championship leader, Antonelli.
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