Accusing Lewis Hamilton of Selfish Tactics, George Russell Lashes Out at Toto Wolff & Co.

George Russell beat Lewis Hamilton last season. However, this season, the 7x world champion seems to be back in form, with Russell failing to keep up with the pace of his teammate. Tension started to build between the duo at the Japanese GP, where Russell asked his team if Hamilton was working with him or not. Seems to be a repeat at the Brazilian GP as the young Brit accused Hamilton and Co. of selfish tactics. 

Mercedes had a lackluster showing in the Sprint race yesterday, with the car being draggy and heavy on tires. After the restart of the Brazilian GP, Lewis Hamilton settled in P4 with Russell behind him. Sergio Perez was chasing Russell, but the DRS from Hamilton helped him keep the Red Bull driver behind. However, Russell soon lost the DRS to Hamilton and eventually lost the place to Checo. 

Russell anticipated this loss in position as he had earlier sent a spicy team radio toward his team. On the radio with his race engineer Ricardo Musconi, Russell said, “I’m having to push too hard in 11 and 12. I either overtake or he [Lewis Hamilton] needs to manage more through there.” Musconi replied, “He’s been told to manage as well.” However, with Mercedes’ impetus more on managing tire temperature rather than swapping positions, Russell retorted, “Are we working together here or just doing our own race?” Regardless, Russell tried to come back at Perez with the DRS on the lap after he got overtaken, but it wasn’t as effective as Perez’s. 

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Checo soon increased the gap to Russell and got outside the DRS range. The Brit tried his best to stay in the DRS but wasn’t able to. Soon after Russell’s fiery message to the team, the team asked Russell to manage his pace. Bad move from Mercedes, as the Briton lashed back at his team. 

George Russell lashes out at Mercedes after being overtaken by Sergio Perez

After being overtaken by Perez, George Russell had Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz on his gearbox. With Russell losing out on the DRS, he had to use his tires to defend against the cars behind him. Also, he wanted to push and get back into Checo’s DRS. While all this was happening, Mercedes radioed Russell asking him to save tires as they wanted to make it to the end of the stint. Russell lashed out and asked his team whether they wanted him to save tires and go back.

As heard on F1TV Live, Mercedes asked Russell to manage his tires on Turn 11 on the throttle. Russell, already unhappy about losing the DRS to Hamilton and conceding position to Checo, said, “Do you want me to race or concede position?”

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From the mild tussle in Japan to the Lap 1 collision in Qatar, Russell & Hamilton thought they had the last of their intra-team tension. Apparently, 12 months since they got a memorable 1-2 at Interlagos, they carry on & amplify their tension, adding a touch of irony too!