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Damon Hill has sided with Lewis Hamilton over George Russell in the battle of the Mercedes drivers in Japan. During the race in Japan on Sunday, the two drivers were on different strategies. While Hamilton had gone for a conventional two-stopper, Russell was on the alternate one-stop strategy.
The two drivers had suffered from contact early in the race as well. Russell had been pushed off the track by Hamilton at the spoon curve early in the race just before the pitstop phase. With Lewis pitting at the time, George was put on an alternate one-stopper to see if he could hold off the chasing pack later in the race.
In the later stages of the race, George Russell was holding off Lewis Hamilton with Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari right behind him. When ordered by Mercedes to cede position, the driver questioned if Lewis could keep him in DRS and protect him from Sainz. When that was denied, it ended up costing another position. In all of this, Lewis admitted, after the race, that he was not in favor of the tactics. Damon Hill also felt the same and felt as a racer Lewis wasn't going to stay behind.
In Sky Sports' post-race broadcast, Hill said:
“He’s been saying all weekend that the car is on a knife-edge, he’s exhausted, it’s difficult to drive, he gave it everything. What’s he supposed to do? Stay behind George on a set of tyres that are struggling? He’s done his job and worked hard to get where he is."
Hill further said:
"He's a racing driver and wants the best results for him. This business of playing lip service to the team, of course, they need the team, but at the end of the day it's instinct and he's a racer.
"Hamilton is perfectly entitled to be frustrated" - Damon Hill
Talking about Lewis Hamilton's frustrations with the team, Damon Hill felt that the Mercedes driver had every right. He had pushed the team to switch from the zero-pod concept to the conventional one and he wants to see progress. Hill said,
Hamilton is perfectly entitled to be frustrated. He’s had to push the team to give up on these zero side pods. The fact that he had to push for that? And stamp his feet? He got them to change direction but it’s late in the day. He’s not a designer. Up against a Cambridge-qualified engineer and designer, you can’t argue as a driver!"
He added,
“But there’s something in you that tells you: ‘Everyone else is going that way, we’re going this way, but we’re not getting results’. The competitive instinct in Lewis tells him that he’s got to communicate it to the team. He could be wrong! It could be embarrassing if you drag the team in the wrong direction.”
Lewis Hamilton finished the race in Japan in P5 while teammate George Russell was in P7.
