Mercedes defend controversial Hamilton and Russell decision.

Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has defended the Silver Arrows’ team orders that saw George Russell allow Lewis Hamilton to overtake him at the Japanese Grand Prix.

With eight laps remaining at Suzuka, Hamilton stayed close to Russell on fresh tires for more than 10 laps. After fighting throughout the race, this time Mercedes was determined to avoid a potential disaster in the final stages.

The order was therefore given, much to Russell’s chagrin, to let Hamilton pass in an attempt to keep Carlos Sainz at bay.

The man from King’s Lynn questioned whether the team should ‘invert on the last lap’, before the foot came down in the Mercedes garage, with Russell allowing his seven-time world champion team-mate through.

In the end, Sainz overtook Russell but could not overtake Hamilton, as the Mercedes pair finished fifth and seventh respectively alongside the Spaniard.

Mercedes: Hamilton and Russell switch was right call.

With the Singapore Grand Prix fresh in the mind, some reminisced to how Sainz expertly allowed Lando Norris to stay within DRS range to aid his defence against Mercedes in the final laps at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The questions then came wondering why Mercedes did not use the same trick at Suzuka. Yet Shovlin is adamant that on a track that did not especially suit the W14, they still made the right call.

“We made some changes before FP2 and gathered some useful lessons. But it was clear that we weren’t strong enough in the faster corners,” he told Mercedes’ internal media. “

He added: “It was a difficult strategy to execute, but George did it very well.

“Given the tyre degradation, we had to protect Lewis from losing the position as he was more likely to finish ahead. Therefore, instructions were given to invert the cars.”