The world of Formula 1 is truly governed by the analogy: survival of the fittest. In this ruthless world of Formula 1, every race could be your last. Now, thanks to the added media attention from the skyrocketing popularity of the sport, any action on and off the track can have massive repercussions. In fact, fans even bemoaned the act of good faith from Lewis Hamilton toward George Russell. The fans’ assessment of the entire apology from Hamilton was extremely negative. However, a Mercedes mastermind has come to the Brit’s rescue.

The Brit, on multiple occasions, accepted the blame for the turn 1 collision in Qatar. In fact, Mercedes even posted a video of the Brit walking up to Russell and apologizing to him. This video, seen on X, earned the team a lot of criticism from the fans as most labeled it as a PR stunt. However, Mercedes’s Motorsport Communications Director, Bradley Lord, has come to the Brit’s defense and assured the fans that Hamilton is still as ruthless and aggressive behind the car.

Lord explained, “It’s not my job to smooth everything out. There should be a little bit of tension there because they are competitors and we don’t want puppy dogs in the car, we want lions and that’s what we’ve got.” 

“So of course there’s tension and the real challenge is how do you build a healthy and a trusting relationship? And how do you work together as a team in order to achieve the team’s objectives? And they’re both really able to do that,” Lord added.

Read More: Mercedes War Gets Uglier as George Russell Insults “Slower” Lewis Hamilton to Favor Max Verstappen

So despite the first lap race ruining collision between the two, will the two Mercedes men put up a united front in the next race? Will they continue to fight for the common objective, the team’s objective, till the end of the season? Well, if are to believe their comments after the Japanese GP, which kick-started this growing tension, they are committed to achieving the same goal.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell put their differences aside to focus on the common objective:

As we all know, Russell was ordered to swap positions with Hamilton toward the end of the Japanese GP. However, soon after Hamilton passed him, so did Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. This scenario made Russell feel hard done by his team, as Hamilton could’ve protected his position.

This scenario raised some eyebrows and possibly created friction between the two Mercedes men. Regardless, after the race, the two put their differences aside and expressed the desire to achieve the common objective of defending the P2 spot in the constructor’s table against Ferrari.

Hamilton said, “Our ultimate goal is to try and get ahead of the Ferraris and that’s what my goal was today. It’s to beat the Ferraris in the constructor’s championship. That’s all that matters. We’re not fighting for a driver’s position in the championship because firstly we’re not close and secondly we’re not fighting for the championship so. Now it’s about just getting the maximum points for the team. I think that’s what we did here.”

Russell echoed the emotion, “At the end of the day, we need to score the maximum points possible. For me personally, the driver’s championship is totally out of the window this season. The objective is to finish P2 with the team ahead of Ferrari.“

WATCH THIS STORY: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell slapped with a brutal reality check amid resurrection rumors

Mercedes could’ve increased their advantage with Sainz sitting out the Qatar GP. However, the crash put Mercedes on the back foot. Will the two British drivers work as a team till the end of the season or race each other every opportunity they get?

The remaining five races should reveal all.