In the closing stages of the Suzuka race, one-stopping George Russell was running in fifth place, ahead of Hamilton, as the charging Ferrari of Carlos Sainz closed in on them from behind.
While Hamilton was on fresher tyres, there was no immediate call for Russell to move aside for his team-mate – which prompted some frustrations from the seven-time world champion over the radio.
Finally Mercedes relented and asked Russell to move over. But as Hamilton then tried to pull clear, he was asked to back off and keep Russell in DRS range – with the hope being that that could help him defend better against Sainz.
Hamilton felt that DRS idea was wrong, as he told the team over the radio – and repeated after the race – that it would have been much better for him to get on and build up as big a margin as possible in clear air.
"I don't think that was a good idea at all," explained Hamilton. "When they suggested it to me, I knew that they had obviously thought of it from the last race [in Singapore], and it made no sense.”
Speaking about the decision-making process in dealing with the two drivers at that stage of the grand prix, Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin is clear that the focus was entirely on ensuring Hamilton was not passed by Sainz.
“It is quite difficult to organise the cars live,” he said. "When we decided to switch them, it was more when we saw how quick Carlos was coming in behind them, and that Lewis in the middle could have been at risk who was old tyres as well.
“Maybe it could have worked out better, but the thing is we were trying to protect against Lewis losing that position as well, as he was the one most likely to finish ahead of Carlos.”
Source: Autosport