In a surprising move, Lewis Hamilton graciously allowed his teammate George Russell to overtake him during the initial stages of the Japanese Grand Prix, a decision prompted by what Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described as a challenging first stint for the Silver Arrows.
Starting the race in seventh position, just ahead of Russell, Hamilton encountered difficulties early on, losing ground to Charles Leclerc after a dramatic first-lap incident involving Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon forced a red flag and a standing restart.
As the gap between the Mercedes duo narrowed, Hamilton opted to yield to Russell’s faster pace, executing the switch on lap 14 following instructions from the team.
Reflecting on his decision, Hamilton cited damage sustained during the early skirmishes as the cause of his struggles, leading to significant understeer that hampered his performance throughout the first stint.
The duo’s race trajectory saw them ultimately swapping their starting positions, finishing in seventh and ninth places respectively, after deviating from their initial one-stop strategy to switch to hard tires during the red-flag stoppage.
Despite the strategic shift, Hamilton downplayed its impact on their inability to make significant progress through the field, asserting that Mercedes had few alternative options given the challenging conditions.
Acknowledging the disappointment of their fourth-place standing in the constructors’ championship, Wolff attributed their lackluster performance to an “atrocious” first stint, emphasizing the need to diagnose the underlying issues and make necessary adjustments.
Despite the setback, Wolff expressed optimism about the team’s overall progress, highlighting lessons learned from the race and anticipating improvements in future outings, affirming Mercedes’ commitment to addressing challenges and optimizing performance across all circuits.
