Daily News 19

Tag: Mercedes team orders

  • Ferrari Faces Management Test Between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc After Dutch GP, Pundit Says

    Ferrari Faces Management Test Between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc After Dutch GP, Pundit Says

    Former F1 TV pundit Will Buxton has questioned whether Ferrari can effectively manage the relationship between seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

    Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast after the Dutch Grand Prix, Buxton contrasted Ferrari’s hesitation over team orders with Mercedes’ swift decision-making. Mercedes quickly arranged a position swap, while Ferrari chose not to intervene, prompting a series of frustrated radio messages from Hamilton.

    Ferrari’s team orders challenge

    Buxton said the incident was less a test of the two Ferrari drivers’ relationship than a test of how the team’s management handles competing priorities.

    Leclerc has raced for Ferrari since 2019 and is deeply established within the organisation. Hamilton joined the Maranello team in 2025 following a successful 12-year spell with Mercedes. After taking time to adapt to his new surroundings, the 41-year-old returned to top form in 2026.

    “Is this Ferrari’s first real test of the Charles and Lewis relationship? Well, if it’s not a test of their relationship, it’s a test of how the team handles it because Charles is the golden child, right? Always has been. He’s Ferrari through and through. He’s probably never going to race anywhere else. It’s his place, and he’s been there since he was a kid,” Buxton explained.

    “And then you’ve got Lewis, the GOAT, seven-time champion. You can’t please both, right? In an F1 team, one driver’s going to be p***ed, one driver’s going to come out happy. That’s just how it works out, especially in these kinds of scenarios. And you kind of have to take your medicine sometimes and realise that you’re going to p*** off one.

    “You can’t keep both of them happy in every single eventuality. It doesn’t happen. Lewis has experience of a team that executes immediately at Mercedes, and he wants that world championship-winning mentality at Ferrari because unless you have that, you’re never going to win a title.

    “So I can see the frustration in Lewis of being like, ‘Guys, we’re making ourselves look like d***s here. This is stupid.’ Because he has experience of the other side of the coin.

    “Is it a Ferrari problem? Is it a Charles-Lewis problem? How quickly do they have to nip it in the bud? Do they have to just figure out what they’re doing and actually get it written down, or understand that the level of execution that they have at the moment just simply isn’t what a championship-winning team has?”

  • Lewis Hamilton “Didn’t Help Himself” With Ferrari Radio Messages, Says Guenther Steiner

    Lewis Hamilton “Didn’t Help Himself” With Ferrari Radio Messages, Says Guenther Steiner

    Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Lewis Hamilton made Ferrari’s Dutch Grand Prix tensions worse with his frustrated team radio messages.

    The seven-time world champion repeatedly questioned Ferrari’s strategy during the race at Zandvoort, urging the Maranello team to let him pass team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was running a different strategy. When Ferrari eventually brought Leclerc into the pits, Hamilton complained that the team had lost too much time.

    Hamilton later sarcastically asked whether Ferrari was using him as a “guinea pig” after leaving him on old hard tyres.

    Steiner compares Ferrari and Mercedes strategy planning

    Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, Steiner compared Ferrari’s handling of team orders with Mercedes’ preparation and said Ferrari had not organised the situation as effectively.

    “Obviously, it was not as well organised as the silver people. They were well organised,” Steiner said during an appearance on The Red Flags Podcast, comparing Mercedes and Ferrari.

    “They had the discussion before and obviously that discussion was not as heated as that one after for Ferrari because when you go into the drivers before the race and tell them what is what.”

    Steiner said Ferrari’s pre-race discussions should have been more detailed.

    “I think that one was not done in the detail Mercedes stated, and that caused what happened.”

    Hamilton criticised for Ferrari team radio messages

    Although Steiner argued that Ferrari could have prepared its drivers more thoroughly for possible team-order scenarios, he also said Hamilton’s criticism of the team was counterproductive.

    “I don’t think Lewis helped himself being so critical because when you’re sitting on the pitwall  and you hear that, it’s like, ‘Oh this guy’s actually trying to vouch too much for himself. He doesn’t see the team anymore here.’

    “You could say, ‘Hey, would it not be better if he lets me pass, I’m faster,’ instead of saying, ‘Oh you made me lose time here.’”

    Hamilton later addressed his Dutch Grand Prix team radio comments on social media, accepting responsibility for his frustrated reaction.

    “I’ve listened back to some of my radio and TV comments. In the heat of the moment, frustration can come out, especially when you care as deeply as I do,” he posted on Instagram.

    “But that wasn’t the best version of me. I take responsibility for that, and I’ll be better. That passion comes from believing in this team, the people in it, and what we’re building together. The direction is clear. The belief is there. And the fight is absolutely still on.”

  • Guenther Steiner Says Mercedes Has Clarified George Russell’s Support Role

    Guenther Steiner Says Mercedes Has Clarified George Russell’s Support Role

    Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Mercedes has told George Russell to support Kimi Antonelli’s 2026 championship campaign.

    Russell arrived at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as the clear favourite for the 2026 drivers’ title. However, his Mercedes team-mate became the youngest driver to lead the standings after consecutive victories at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix.

    During the first half of the season, Russell won two Grands Prix while Antonelli claimed six victories. The Italian currently leads the championship with 242 points, while Russell sits second on 183 points, level with Lewis Hamilton.

    Mercedes team orders raise questions over Russell and Antonelli

    Russell was asked to let Antonelli past during the Dutch Grand Prix, reigniting questions about Mercedes’ internal dynamics. Team principal Toto Wolff said the instruction was not related to the championship.

    Russell briefly questioned the order over team radio before allowing his team-mate through. He finished third behind race winner Lando Norris and Antonelli, later telling the media that the decision was correct because Antonelli would probably have overtaken him anyway on fresher tyres.

    Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes

    Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

    Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, Steiner suggested that Mercedes must have held a clear discussion during the summer break to define its new rules of engagement. The team and its drivers have not confirmed that such a conversation took place.

    “I wouldn’t say they told him, ‘You’re the number two driver.’ They told him, ‘You are now here to support Kimi.’ I wouldn’t call him the number two driver, but, ‘If needed, you need to support Kimi to win the world championship. This is your mission for this season.’ No, I think that happened,” Steiner explained.

    Steiner argued that supporting Antonelli would be necessary if Mercedes wants to secure the drivers’ championship, warning that failing to establish clear priorities could leave the team vulnerable late in the season.

    “If you want to win, this is what you have to do. Otherwise, you take the risk as McLaren did last year, then get down to the last race to lose that world championship, not to win it, to lose it.”

  • Mercedes on Dutch GP team orders: We would’ve done the exact same thing the other way around

    Mercedes on Dutch GP team orders: We would’ve done the exact same thing the other way around

    Mercedes has reviewed its Dutch Grand Prix team orders and remains convinced that asking Kimi Antonelli to pass George Russell late in the Formula 1 race secured a double podium. The team also says it would have made the same decision if the drivers had been in the opposite positions.

    Why Mercedes swapped Antonelli and Russell

    Esteban Ocon triggered a virtual safety car on lap 55 at Zandvoort, with Antonelli running second and Russell fourth, separated by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Both Ferraris pitted immediately, while Antonelli stopped one lap later. The strategy promoted Russell to second, ahead of the three cars that had pitted.

    Running on fresher soft tyres, Antonelli quickly closed on Russell and Mercedes instructed Russell to let his team-mate through. Although Russell initially questioned the call, he complied and spent the remainder of the race defending third place from both Ferraris.

    Antonelli could not catch race winner Lando Norris and finished second. Russell, helped by another late virtual safety car, held off the Ferraris to complete Mercedes’ double podium.

    After Mercedes’ post-race debrief on Monday, deputy team principal Bradley Lord explained why the team had reviewed the decision and remained satisfied with its reasoning.

    “It seemed good, to be honest,” Lord said on Mercedes’ Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show. “One of the funny consequences of that early red flag was actually we were all sort of hot-footing out of Zandvoort and we actually only had the debrief on Monday after the race rather than Sunday in the immediate aftermath, because things were delayed and then everyone was heading out and both the drivers were in the press conference and have all of their stuff to complete as well.

    “George quite naturally asked the question, just stress-tested it when he first got the communication. But then understood that bigger picture that with Kimi we’d taken the chance of a free stop behind the VSC.

    “If George had made the same stop, he’d have dropped behind one of the Ferraris and given up that podium position regardless. And then really it comes back to what have you talked about beforehand and how clear is how the team’s going to operate. 

    “And we’d been really clear in that Sunday morning strategy meeting that it is too close for us to be able to lose any time at all with our two drivers fighting each other and costing each other time.

    “So that had set the basis then for the decision. And I think it’s fair to say that had that been the other way around, we’d have done exactly the same thing in order to give ourselves the best chance of the P2 finish and to give the car in third, again, the clear air and the best chance of holding position as well.”

    Mercedes rejected tow strategy for Russell

    Mercedes also considered giving Russell a tow and Overtake Mode, which serves a similar purpose to the previous-generation DRS system. However, the team decided against the tactic because the expected benefit was small and the risk of it backfiring was significant.

    “We had the conversation and there was a bit of a debate,” Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes trackside engineering director, explained. “In the end, we decided that it’s not a massive gain in terms of lap time there.

    “It’s two tenths. And it’s fair to say that those two tenths is on the straight. So that’s probably the place that you’re going to be vulnerable. 

    “There was also some concern of just the cars getting tangled up if we’re trying to do something clever that we’ve not rehearsed. But given that it isn’t an enormous chunk of lap time and speed at that circuit, we felt actually it would be better to give George the clear air [and] Kimi just gets out the way. 

    “That’s probably George’s best chance of getting a good exit and a good braking, because ultimately you can’t follow with these cars at two tenths. So the way that a Ferrari would have got past him would have been if it made a lot of ground coming out of the final corner or went very, very deep on the brakes.”

    Shovlin praises Russell’s defence

    Shovlin praised Russell for defending through the closing laps to secure Mercedes’ double podium. The result also moved Russell to second in the drivers’ championship, level on points with Hamilton but ahead on wins countback.

    “It’s honestly a really impressive effort by George. You wouldn’t have given him maybe even 50-50 odds of holding both of them back. There’s a good chance that one of them was going to get through,” Shovlin said.

    “Maybe we’re a bit lucky with that VSC that just took the heat out of it for a lap or two and he was able to manage his energy levels.”