27 September 2023 , 14:29
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George Russell insists he has "no issues" with being ordered to let Lewis Hamilton pass at last Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix despite his protests at the time.
A few laps from the end of the race, Russell was asked over the radio to let Hamilton through. He was on a one-stop strategy which meant he had much older tyres than those being used by his team-mate.
With Carlos Sainz bearing down on the both of them, Mercedes took the decision to ask Russell to let Hamilton through. That way, the team felt, the seven-time world champion had more of a chance of keeping the Spaniard behind.
Russell initially resisted the request, asking instead to wait until the final lap. But once it was made clear to him that it was more of an order than a request, the 25-year-old duly moved aside.
Asked after the race if he could accept the decision, Russell replied: "Yeah, of course." Referring to his resistance over the radio, he elaborated: "You use the radio as a bit of a release valve – it's so hot in the car, it's a long race, you're there pushing for an hour and a half, you're fighting every inch.
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"The main goal is to finish P2 in the constructors' championship. The drivers' championship for me is out of the window totally, Lewis is in a good place to fight for a good position. But the goal is just to finish ahead of Ferrari this season, keep on working for next year. So yeah, no issues on my side.
"Of course, [it's] difficult for the team to judge. But, as I said, myself I've got one goal, which is to finish P2 in the constructors' championship for the team. Lewis has had a really consistent season this year. He's in a battle for P3 in the drivers' championship.
"Worst case, we lost two extra points there. But we could have ended up with four points less, so when you take the averages, the team made the right call. And from my side, zero hard feelings. As I said, we've got to work on the car and we're not going to get upset over a potential fifth and sixth loss versus a fifth and a seventh."
There were several other point during that Suzuka race at which the two Mercedes cars were battling for position. And there have been plenty of other examples throughout the season that have sparked near-misses and moments fraught with danger for the team.
Russell is not concerned, though, and vowed to fight Hamilton whenever he gets the chance. He added: "I viewed it as good, hard racing. To be in the position to be putting him under pressure and making moves on him, I was happy with. So I would take the positives from that.
"We're not going to give the position easily to one another. It was still early on in the race. I had more pace, but he was the car who was ahead, so as I said part of racing, we're not even going to discuss it. There's nothing to discuss. We've got bigger fish to fry, which is how to make our car go quicker."