Why mimicry of Lewis Hamilton F1 superpower means Ferrari transfer won’t cost Mercedes

Thumbnail for article regarding Hamilton on Friday in Belgium — Photo: © IMAGO

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Why mimicry of Lewis Hamilton SUPERPOWER means Ferrari transfer won’t cost Mercedes

The seven-time world champion felt hard done by after finishing second

Daniel Austin

Monday 29 July 2024 12:57 Updated: 22:00

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When he finally crossed the line only a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri, George Russell’s Belgian Grand Prix victory was as thoroughly deserved as it was utterly unexpected.

The 26-year-old seemed to have scored his third Formula 1 win by delivering arguably his most impressive drive yet, producing a stunning lengthy final stint on hard tyres to make a one-stop strategy work far better than any of his rivals imagined was possible.

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That was, of course, before the stewards stepped in post-race and disqualified Russell for having an underweight car. Though Hamilton eventually inherited the win thanks to Russell's misfortune hours after the finish, the way the race panned out and the reaction afterwards provided an interesting insight into the Hamilton-less future of Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion had controlled the race from early on after stealing second place from Sergio Perez into Eau Rouge with a stellar start, before passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and building up a commanding lead.

He seemed the certain winner when he emerged from his second pit stop with a solid advantage over Leclerc, but Russell’s unique strategy kept him ahead and Hamilton was unable to pass his compatriot in the closing stages.

The seven-time world champion was clearly furious in the cooldown room after originally finishing behind his team-mate, and felt the team’s decision-making had cost him a 105th F1 victory.

What did Lewis Hamilton think after the Belgian Grand Prix

“It felt great to get in the lead and obviously it was a bit of a shock at the end,” the seven-time world champion said afterwards. “George wasn’t really in my race for most of it, and so if the strategy had been done right he wouldn’t have been in my race so we wouldn't have been having that. But it's great that at the end we do have cars that are so far ahead that are competing."

"It is what it is, it's done, I’m moving forward, I'm going into my break, I'm going to have a great time” he concluded.

Lewis Hamilton was clearly disappointed with his second-place finish, before the stewards upgraded him to race winner

Discussing the battle for the win in the final few laps, Hamilton said: “I was trying to get closer, but George did a great job going longer on the tyres. Every stint I had tyres left but the team brought me in. Unfortunate but it’s one of those days.”

Hamilton is right that strategy cost him, and that he could comfortably have carried on with his own set of hard tyres he was using after his first pit stop – the hard rubber which was clearly far faster than the medium and suffering very little degradation, as demonstrated by Carlos Sainz who went long on his hards at the start.

But this was not the case of the team doing him over. Instead, Russell played a masterstroke.

How did George Russell originally win the Belgian Grand Prix?

“Think about the one stop!”, Russell demanded on the team radio on Lap 26, 18 tours from the end as those ahead of him began stopping for the final time. Mercedes listened and implemented a strategy they never planned to opt for, their decision justified by Russell’s impressive lap times which were slower than those who had stopped for fresh hards but not by a huge margin.

“Amazing result,” Russell said afterwards prior to learning he had lost the win to a technical infringement. “Definitely didn’t predict this result this morning in our strategy meeting, but the car was feeling really awesome. The tyres just felt great and I kept saying ‘I think we can do the one stop’. The strategy did a great job.

“We rolled the dice but it was only possible because the car was feeling really great and the pace was there."

George Russell fully deserved his victory, but an error on Mercedes' part cost him after an investigation by the stewards

It was, then, Russell who originally won the race for himself by concentrating on maximising his own pace, taking ownership of the situation, and making a calculated risk work pristinely.

Hamilton is right that his hard tyres still had pace in them when he stopped for a fresh set, covering off the likes of Leclerc who had already come in for the final time, but the same knowledge and power rested in his hands - he could potentially have made the same call as Russell and turned a one-stop into victory.

Rather than a weakness on the part of Mercedes’ strategists, this was an outcome entirely dictated by the wisdom and efficiency of Russell, who eschewed worries about what those around him were doing and demonstrated the kind of team leadership which has been Hamilton’s superpower in his glorious era of success with Mercedes.

What does the Belgian Grand Prix mean for Mercedes' future?

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was effusive in his praise of Russell’s growing maturity after the chequered flag fell.

“The tyre whisperer,” Wolff called Russell over the radio, before adding in a post-race interview: “George had nothing to lose. The one stop and the two stop were showing P5 so we left him out. He was very good today. George is very strong – he is stepping up and that’s good.”

Tyre management and leadership have been the key tenets of Hamilton’s time with the Silver Arrows, and Russell’s occasional tendency to make errors when fighting at the very front of the field (like in Canada earlier this season) suggested Mercedes may well miss those qualities when Hamilton departs for Ferrari at the end of the season.

But in Belgium Russell demonstrated that he made a significant step towards filling Hamilton’s shoes as team leader – he can make quick decisions under pressure, convince the team to back him, and deliver the result by the end of the race.

Though the stewards may have quelled their celebrations in the end, with a car that is now often capable of challenging for race wins and a driver who is increasingly able to direct the team forwards, it seems all will not be lost for Mercedes once Hamilton goes from friend to foe.

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