Mercedes strategy questioned as Hamilton secures stunning title boost

Kimi Antonelli, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton looking serious at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

Mercedes

Mercedes strategy questioned as Hamilton secures stunning title boost

George Russell finished second to Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona

By Vincent Bruins.

Sunday 21 June 2026 19:02

Mercedes squandered George Russell’s chances during the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, according to former F1 racer Juan Pablo Montoya.

Montoya believes that an overly aggressive pit stop strategy forced the Brit into an extremely difficult situation.

Although Russell started from pole at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday, it was Lewis Hamilton who ultimately emerged victorious. The seven-time world champion executed a smart three-stop strategy to secure his first grand prix win for Ferrari.

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But rather embarrassingly for Mercedes, they appeared to be caught out by Ferrari's strategy and were not flexible when it came to their own strategy for the race.

As a result, Russell could only finish second, and Hamilton put himself right into contention with the two Mercedes drivers for the drivers' championship, with Kimi Antonelli suffering a mechanical failure.

Mercedes pay price for strategy error

After Hamilton pitted on lap 11 for his first tyre change, Mercedes responded by calling Russell in the very next lap. However, the Silver Arrows kept Russell on a two-stop strategy.

"What really surprised me about Mercedes is that they reacted to Lewis' strategy, but they stayed on their own," Montoya said on F1 TV. "So, I think they put themselves in a really difficult situation because at the end of the race, they had to do over 30 laps on the last set of tyres.

"So, it's like if you go into a two-stop, you don't stop on lap 15. You should have gone to lap 21 or 22. Then, it becomes a much easier race. And then if they would have done that, it would have been much harder for Lewis to work because when they stopped, everybody stopped early and extended those runs, that's where they opened the strategy for Lewis.

"I think Mercedes put him in a tough spot by stopping him so early. He was the first guy. When you have such a high degradation... If you think about it, if you have two-tenths a lap degradation and he was higher and your team-mate stops four laps later, that's eight tenths a lap. Yes, you open a bit of a gap initially, but it just makes it hard."

F1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes George Russell Barcelona-Catalunya Grand prix