F1 Rumour: Toto Wolff Stepped In From 'Hospital Bed' Over Mercedes Japanese GP Strategy
The Japanese Grand Prix saw some tussle between Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell like they were driving for different teams. However, during the final stages of the race, Toto Wolff had to step in from the Hospital to ensure Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz didn't pass the two drivers.
In the fifth lap, the Mercedes duo fought each other when Russell forced his way past the chicane. Hamilton fought back on the straight and eventually pushed his colleague off into the run-off area in the Spoon bend, which prompted Russell to ask "Who are we racing against here? The others or ourselves?"
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Rather cleverly, after sensing heated emotions, Mercedes separated the two drivers by using different strategies for each of them. They pitted Russell once, considering how good his tires were lasting, and for Hamilton, they brought him in twice. However, the number 44 car eventually caught up with Russell again, this time with fresher tires. But, with Carlos Sainz hot on Hamilton's tail, the team had to act fast.
At first, they wanted Russell to give Hamilton DRS but, there was too much speed difference. Mercedes had to let Hamilton pass to prevent Sainz from overtaking both their cars. To take the final call, the team supposedly consulted their principal Toto Wolff, who was in the hospital in Austria for surgery on his cruciate ligament.
The order from Austria was final. George had to give way to Hamilton who zoomed past but only to stay there and keep Russell within DRS range. As part of Mercedes's strategy to save Hamilton from Sainz, they kept Russell in between.
Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin added that the DRS strategy was made with the sole objective of protecting Hamilton's position from the Ferrari. He revealed:
“It is quite difficult to organise the cars live.
"When we decided to switch them, it was more when we saw how quick Carlos was coming in behind them, and that Lewis in the middle could have been at risk who was old tyres as well.
"Maybe it could have worked out better, but the thing is we were trying to protect against Lewis losing that position as well, as he was the one most likely to finish ahead of Carlos.”
However, Hamilton was rather unhappy about not being allowed to pull away from Russell. He said:
"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."
