The British GP did not get off to a good start for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. After finishing out of the Top 10 in both practice sessions on Friday, things were not looking good for Mercedes. Qualifying, however, was better with Russell securing P6 and Hamilton, P7. And we only say better because no one expected the McLaren threat to rise so quickly. However, Russell starting on the soft tires on Sunday turned out to be a genius move as that eventually helped Hamilton get a surprising podium at Silverstone.

For the main spectacle on Sunday, most drivers, including Hamilton started with the medium tires. But George Russell was one of the only 4 drivers who went for the Soft tires. And because of that, the Brackley outfit got good feedback on how the different tire compounds were degrading. And Russell managed to make the softs last for 29 laps. So when the Safety car came out in Lap 33, the team called in Hamilton for the softs. And that worked wonders for him because Oscar Piastri in the McLaren behind could not overtake him. Thus, helping the 7-time Champion get his 14th podium at his home GP.

In the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Strategy engineer Bernie Collins spoke about the same. She said that it was because of Russell’s bold move that his teammate, Hamilton flourished.

Collins said, “They were one of the few teams to split the cars between the soft and the medium strategy. George was a bit of an outlier starting on the Soft and they had to do more work in that first stint. It was a very smart move from Mercedes or George Russell. They had feedback on both tires – One of the few teams that had direct feedback on how both tires So it allowed Lewis to extend the Softs in the end and it allowed George to fit the mediums.”

For Mercedes, the race might have been nice. But McLaren is a new competitor that they have to deal with, said Russell. And Team Principal Toto Wolff seconded him.

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At Silverstone, McLaren brought in a big upgrade package for both cars. And that allowed their drivers a chance at a podium. While Lando Norris stood P2 on the podium, Oscar Piastri nearly missed out, finishing P4. But Russell still could not catch up to them. On the team radio, he even said, “Those McLarens are so quick on the hards – impressive.”

After the race, even Wolff acknowledged that McLaren are going to be a menace on the racetrack. He said, as quoted by Mirror, “To be honest, when the safety car was deployed I was pretty sure if not convinced that we will be eating up the McLaren and finish with a P2 and P3 or maybe even challenge at the front. So you see just how strong the [McLaren] car was.”

George Russell has had an inspiring journey in F1. But now that he drives for Mercedes, a bit more is expected from him. And finally, at the British GP, he showed why he was presented with the prized seat alongside Lewis Hamilton.

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