© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says if the Belgian Grand Prix had lasted for one more lap, the team would have considered asking George Russell to let Lewis Hamilton through.
Mercedes had a fantastic Belgian Grand Prix, with George Russell winning, followed by Lewis Hamilton in P2.
The race was largely dominated by Hamilton, but ultimately Russell managed to win thanks to a bold one-stop strategy.
In the final laps of the race, Lewis was on George’s tail on much fresher tyres, so George was actually slowing him down, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fast approaching.
Now, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says if the race had lasted for one more lap, the team would have considered asking George to move over for Lewis.
“If we had one more lap, that could have been a consideration,” the Austrian said.
“But I’m happy that we didn’t have to make a swap.”
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Ultimately, after the race George Russell’s car was found to be under the weight limit, so he was disqualified, and Lewis inherited the victory.
Although after the race Lewis expressed his dissatisfaction with his strategy, Toto insists a one-stop was never an option for him.
“As a driver, you don’t have the full picture because he said his tyres were good. But at that time nobody was on a one-stop strategy.
“We had to think about the cars behind us and they all logically made a two-stop, so it just wasn’t an option.
“What we did with Lewis was absolutely the right choice. That a one-stop was possible was not foreseeable.
“If it had been, every other top team would have done it,” Wolff concluded.
