21 September 2023 , 07:18
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Mercedes technical director James Allison believes the team's strategy was "worth the gamble" despite George Russell and Lewis Hamilton failing to finish above third at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz became the first non-Red Bull driver to win a race in the 2023 season, with Lando Norris taking second. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton completed the top three, but only after team-mate George Russell was involved in a disastrous final-lap crash when attempting to catch Norris.
In the aftermath of the race, questions were asked over the team's strategy as they lost ground on Ferrari in the battle for second spot in the constructors' championship. Russell started from second place on the grid, with Hamilton not far behind in fifth.
Allison stood by the approach, believing a one-two was within Mercedes' reach. While the desired outcome wasn't achieved, there was an admission that sometimes risks need to be taken to secure Formula 1 glory.
"The trade of a potential upside of a one-two, potential downside of a couple of championship points that made it feel like a really good bet, a really good hand to play," Allison said in an interview shared on Mercedes' YouTube channel. "So, that is what we decided to do.
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“We decided to plan for both cars because both cars had that chance of getting right the way through our competitor teams and securing that one-two for Mercedes. You could argue that George had more to lose because he was in P2 and Lewis further back better to gamble and that is behind the question should we have split the strategies?
"But that underestimates a key point: George was massively up for this. George felt he could get the job done. George would have been absolutely furious not to be given that chance."
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Team principal Toto Wolff noted after the race that Russell was "totally down" after missing out on a podium finish. However, elaborating more on the decision-making, Allison stood by the team's overall approach.
“From our point of view in the calculating seats it looked like there was a very good chance that he would be there to get the overtakes there on new rubber," he continued. "From our point of view absolutely worth the gamble, the downside was very small, the upside was absolutely enormous. The fact that it did not work out, well, playing poker is very similar to playing race strategy – sometimes the hand does not go your way.
“But you calculate what your best odds are, and you play them accordingly and I am so very proud of the team for doing that. Very proud that we had the courage to do it with both cars and neither driver at the end had any doubts that that was the right call and certainly none of us on the engineering and strategy side did either. Hopefully, we will have the courage to do the same thing again in the future and with a bit of luck it will just tilt our way in the future if we ever find ourselves playing those cards again.”