Mercedes has reviewed its Dutch Grand Prix team orders and remains convinced that asking Kimi Antonelli to pass George Russell late in the Formula 1 race secured a double podium. The team also says it would have made the same decision if the drivers had been in the opposite positions.
Why Mercedes swapped Antonelli and Russell
Esteban Ocon triggered a virtual safety car on lap 55 at Zandvoort, with Antonelli running second and Russell fourth, separated by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Both Ferraris pitted immediately, while Antonelli stopped one lap later. The strategy promoted Russell to second, ahead of the three cars that had pitted.
Running on fresher soft tyres, Antonelli quickly closed on Russell and Mercedes instructed Russell to let his team-mate through. Although Russell initially questioned the call, he complied and spent the remainder of the race defending third place from both Ferraris.
Antonelli could not catch race winner Lando Norris and finished second. Russell, helped by another late virtual safety car, held off the Ferraris to complete Mercedes’ double podium.
After Mercedes’ post-race debrief on Monday, deputy team principal Bradley Lord explained why the team had reviewed the decision and remained satisfied with its reasoning.
“It seemed good, to be honest,” Lord said on Mercedes’ Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show. “One of the funny consequences of that early red flag was actually we were all sort of hot-footing out of Zandvoort and we actually only had the debrief on Monday after the race rather than Sunday in the immediate aftermath, because things were delayed and then everyone was heading out and both the drivers were in the press conference and have all of their stuff to complete as well.
“George quite naturally asked the question, just stress-tested it when he first got the communication. But then understood that bigger picture that with Kimi we’d taken the chance of a free stop behind the VSC.
“If George had made the same stop, he’d have dropped behind one of the Ferraris and given up that podium position regardless. And then really it comes back to what have you talked about beforehand and how clear is how the team’s going to operate.
“And we’d been really clear in that Sunday morning strategy meeting that it is too close for us to be able to lose any time at all with our two drivers fighting each other and costing each other time.
“So that had set the basis then for the decision. And I think it’s fair to say that had that been the other way around, we’d have done exactly the same thing in order to give ourselves the best chance of the P2 finish and to give the car in third, again, the clear air and the best chance of holding position as well.”
Mercedes rejected tow strategy for Russell
Mercedes also considered giving Russell a tow and Overtake Mode, which serves a similar purpose to the previous-generation DRS system. However, the team decided against the tactic because the expected benefit was small and the risk of it backfiring was significant.
“We had the conversation and there was a bit of a debate,” Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes trackside engineering director, explained. “In the end, we decided that it’s not a massive gain in terms of lap time there.
“It’s two tenths. And it’s fair to say that those two tenths is on the straight. So that’s probably the place that you’re going to be vulnerable.
“There was also some concern of just the cars getting tangled up if we’re trying to do something clever that we’ve not rehearsed. But given that it isn’t an enormous chunk of lap time and speed at that circuit, we felt actually it would be better to give George the clear air [and] Kimi just gets out the way.
“That’s probably George’s best chance of getting a good exit and a good braking, because ultimately you can’t follow with these cars at two tenths. So the way that a Ferrari would have got past him would have been if it made a lot of ground coming out of the final corner or went very, very deep on the brakes.”
Shovlin praises Russell’s defence
Shovlin praised Russell for defending through the closing laps to secure Mercedes’ double podium. The result also moved Russell to second in the drivers’ championship, level on points with Hamilton but ahead on wins countback.
“It’s honestly a really impressive effort by George. You wouldn’t have given him maybe even 50-50 odds of holding both of them back. There’s a good chance that one of them was going to get through,” Shovlin said.
“Maybe we’re a bit lucky with that VSC that just took the heat out of it for a lap or two and he was able to manage his energy levels.”
