Lewis Hamilton and George Russell explain dramatic Japanese GP for Mercedes as pair come close to contact at Suzuka

Lewis Hamilton says he felt “exhausted” after a rollercoaster race in which he twice almost collided with Mercedes team-mate George Russell and suggested they should have changed earlier when the pair found each other again towards the end of the Japanese Grand Prix. Price.

Hamilton and Russell swapped positions after the Safety Car restart, with the seven-time world champion limping slightly to the right during the fast run to Turn 1.

On lap 16, Hamilton ran wide on the second Degner, allowing Russell to make a run on him towards Spoon Curve at Turn 13. However, Hamilton ran his teammate wide, so Russell wondered: “are we fighting each other or the others?”

“Like, I’m exhausted. Fighting with absolutely everything I have to get as high as possible and stay ahead of Ferrari, who got an upgrade this week, so they were particularly fast,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

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Highlights of the Japanese Grand Prix from the Suzuka circuit.

“They have been faster in the last three races. It was a great battle. I have scored the most points for the team, I am really trying to hold on to second place for the constructors’ title because I really know how important it is for everyone in the factories.

“So absolutely giving it everything, but it’s tough on weekends like this, especially when there’s such a handful of cars. Actually exactly the same as last year, so emotionally the car felt exactly the same as last year, bouncing and sliding. So that’s tough considering the amount of work we’ve done to make progress and we haven’t gotten any closer to the front, at least here.

“But we did get ahead of one of the Ferraris. That’s great teamwork and great work from the guys in the pit stop and with strategy. There’s still a long way to go.”

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Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell almost collide as they battle for seventh place in Suzuka

Mercedes explains the exchange between Russell and Hamilton

The other dramatic moment came with five laps to go when Hamilton got stuck behind Russell, who tried to hold onto fifth place with a daring one-stop strategy.

Russell wanted to work with Hamilton by keeping him in his DRS, rather than letting him through, so that both drivers could stay ahead of an attacking Carlos Sainz. Coincidentally, Sainz used DRS tactics on his way to victory at the Singapore Grand Prix a week earlier.

Instead, Russell let Hamilton pass, but was then also overtaken by Sainz to finish seventh. On the radio, Russell said in frustration: “If you want to play the team game… he pushed me off the track before,” referring to the incident with Hamilton earlier in the Grand Prix.

“When you’re in the car and you’re doing 48 laps, you’re giving it everything and you’re creating a sub-optimal strategy to try and work. That radio is an outlet to release some frustration,” Russell explains.

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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell battle for the second time in the race entering Turn 11 at Suzuka

“Overtaking was difficult. You saw Piastri this weekend with much fresher tires and a much faster car, he didn’t fly by. It took him two laps.

“For me the aim is to secure P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. As far as my personal side is concerned, the Drivers’ Championship is completely out of the picture. It has been a complete disaster of a season, so many missed opportunities. Lewis is in a very good situation .” position for P3. If I’m standing here now, it’s all good.”

Hamilton disagreed with Russell’s motivation to use a DRS train to try to get both Mercedes to finish ahead of Sainz.

“We should have changed earlier and I should have gotten as far forward as possible to make the gap to the Ferrari as big as possible,” he said. “He (Russell) tried to fight me, he damaged his ligaments and I think it complicated everything.

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Lewis Hamilton eliminates Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in the space of 1 km at Suzuka

“The fact is that we are not fighting each other in the team championship. As drivers it is not important where we are. What is important is that one of us finishes in front of the Ferrari and keeps the position. Today we really had to work as a team.

“When they suggested it to me, I knew they had obviously thought about it during the last race, but it didn’t make any sense. I had to get as far clear as possible. I was on my way, about two seconds ahead, and they asked me to George gave DRS and I had to let off the accelerator on the straight. Then he was overtaken by Sainz. Then he passed George and was right on my heels, which wasn’t ideal.”

Mercedes on-track technical director Andrew Shovlin added: “When we decided to change them we saw how quickly Carlos was on the back and Lewis in the middle could also have been in danger on older tires.

“Maybe it could have turned out better, but what we were trying to protect ourselves against was Lewis losing that position too, because he was the one who had the best chance of finishing ahead of Carlos.”

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Two collisions in the opening corner of the Japanese Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez collided with Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas shortly afterwards

Why did Russell do a one-stop?

Russell was the only driver to complete the Japanese Grand Prix with one stop, which many people said before the race was not possible.

It ultimately didn’t help the British driver and Shovlin admitted that Hamilton’s unfortunate contact with Perez at the start, which put the Mercedes duo on track together, was a reason for the different strategies.

“The way the race went from the start with Perez’s contact with Lewis, we lost a position and ended up in the background. It was always going to be very marginal to make the strategies work and fight against the Ferraris” , he explained.

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Ted Kravitz is in the paddock to discuss the biggest stories about the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix

“That’s why we split the strategies, knowing that there was a potential for interaction and that we might have to manage that in the right way.

“They were clearly both racing hard in a car that was tricky, pushing it to the limit. There was some radio traffic that reflected that, but we’ve made it a habit not to read too much into what’s being said in the heat of the moment and the pressure of a cockpit – especially during a hot and demanding race like this.

“We will then discuss anything that needs to be cleaned up, nice and calm, away from the pressure cooker.”

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