“I don’t think that was a good idea” - Lewis Hamilton unimpressed by Mercedes’ strategy to give DRS to George Russell in F1 Japanese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton was not particularly happy after the Japanese Grand Prix as he had to settle for P5 because of the strategy that the team suggested to him.

The Japanese GP was celebratory for Red Bull as they sealed their constructor's championship for the season, but right behind them on the grid, there was quite a battle going on between the Mercedes and the Ferraris.

Lewis Hamilton, who started the race P7, had a good chance of overtaking Charles Leclerc for P4 by the end of the race. However, George Russell was still under pressure from Carlos Sainz. Hamilton was thus asked to slow down and help Russell by giving DRS, something that Sainz did in Singapore last week. But as Hamilton believes, the idea made 'no sense.'

He told the media after Sunday's race:

"I don't think that was a good idea at all. When they suggested it to me, I knew that they had obviously thought of it from the last race, and it made no sense."

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Lewis Hamilton knew that Russell could not have defended the position

Even though the plan was executed well and would have worked in the way of Mercedes, there was a major factor that limited them. While most of the drivers were on a two-stop strategy with fresher tires, George Russell was on used hards with a single-stop strategy. This gave Carlos Sainz, who was on fresher tires, the perfect opportunity to pass the Briton despite the DRS support.

While this made him lose his position, Lewis Hamilton also lost his chance to attack Charles Leclerc for P4 and take the position.

On this, the seven-time world champion said:

"I needed to get as far clear ahead as possible and I was on my way. I was around two seconds ahead and they asked me then to give George DRS, so I had to come off the gas down the straight to get him 0.8s behind.

"He got DRS, but got overtaken, which was going to happen because he was on a one-stop and we were on a two."

Ferrari and Mercedes are having a potential battle for second place in the championship and even though the latter have the lead, the Scuderia are continuing the pressure with improvement in their performance. If Lewis Hamilton had taken Leclerc's position, it could have been a little better for them but that did not happen. It is apparent that the team will have to work hard to keep the position.