Mercedes has insisted that its decision to allow Andrea Kimi Antonelli to reclaim second place from George Russell during the Dutch Grand Prix was based purely on the circumstances of the race rather than any change in the team’s driver hierarchy. Bradley Lord says Mercedes would have made exactly the same call in George Russell’s favour had their positions been reversed.
As Formula 1 heads towards the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, interest is growing around how Mercedes will manage its two drivers after the Zandvoort team order. In theory, both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell remain in contention for the Drivers’ Championship, making every strategic decision involving the pair increasingly significant.
Mercedes explains Kimi Antonelli-George Russell team order
During the latest episode of the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show video podcast, Bradley Lord and Andrew Shovlin provided a behind-the-scenes explanation of what happened at Zandvoort. Both made clear that Mercedes would not have hesitated to favour George Russell if the circumstances had been reversed, regardless of the championship standings.
“George, naturally, questioned the instruction when he received it, but he understood the bigger picture,” Bradley Lord explained. “Kimi had taken advantage of the opportunity for a free pit stop during the Virtual Safety Car. If George had done the same, he would have ended up behind a Ferrari and would have lost the podium position.”
Lord explained that Mercedes had already discussed the possibility of its drivers becoming involved in an internal battle before the race.
“Also, in the strategy meeting on Sunday morning, we had been very clear that the group was too tightly packed for our drivers to afford to lose time fighting each other. That discussion provided the basis for the decision. If the circumstances had been reversed, we would have acted in exactly the same way.”
The explanation is intended to make clear that the Zandvoort call was situational rather than an indication that Mercedes has formally designated Andrea Kimi Antonelli as its number one driver.
Monza could put Mercedes’ claim to the test
The Italian Grand Prix could immediately provide Mercedes with an opportunity to demonstrate whether Lord’s claim holds true in the opposite scenario. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is due to serve a grid penalty at Monza because of the new Power Unit that will be fitted to his car, potentially leaving the two Mercedes drivers on very different strategies during the race.
If Andrea Kimi Antonelli were to find himself ahead of George Russell while running an alternative strategy, but risked slowing his team-mate, Mercedes could therefore face the opposite version of its Zandvoort dilemma. The question would then be whether the pit wall would instruct the Italian to move aside and allow George Russell through.
Mercedes considered using Kimi Antonelli to help George Russell
Andrew Shovlin also revealed another interesting detail from the Dutch Grand Prix. Mercedes considered asking Andrea Kimi Antonelli to slow down in order to help George Russell make use of Overtake Mode and defend his podium position more effectively against the Ferraris.
The idea was ultimately rejected because Mercedes believed the potential benefit was not large enough to justify the risk of having its two cars running closely together in a situation the team had not previously tested.
“We discussed it. The gain was around two tenths of a second, mainly on the straight, which was also the most vulnerable area for George,” Andrew Shovlin said. “There was, however, a concern that trying something we had never attempted before could cause contact between the cars.”
“Given that the lap-time gain wasn’t enormous, we decided it was better for Kimi to move further ahead and give George clear space so that he could have the best possible corner exit and braking performance.”
Andrew Shovlin praises George Russell’s Ferrari defence
Mercedes instead left George Russell to defend his podium position on his own, and Andrew Shovlin was impressed by how effectively the Briton managed the situation against both Ferrari cars.
“George’s defence was really impressive. We probably wouldn’t even have given him a 50% chance of keeping both Ferraris behind him; the VSC helped calm the situation down for a couple of laps and allowed him to manage the energy, but he executed the defence superbly,” Andrew Shovlin concluded.
The Zandvoort episode therefore appears to have been driven by race strategy rather than a formal change in status between the Mercedes drivers. With Andrea Kimi Antonelli facing a grid penalty at Monza, however, the Italian Grand Prix could quickly provide a fresh test of the team’s insistence that George Russell would receive exactly the same treatment if circumstances demanded it.
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