“Shall I let George by?” Lewis Hamilton willingly lets George Russell pass him at the Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton played the team game and let George Russell pass him during the Japanese GP

“Shall I let George by?” Lewis Hamilton willingly lets George Russell pass him at the Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton [L] George Russell [R] (images via IMAGO)

Mercedes’ struggles in F1’s ground-effect era have continued in 2024. Brackley was hopeful of scoring some crucial points at the Japanese GP to put the team in contention for the championship. Subsequently, Lewis Hamilton was spotted playing the team game and letting George Russell pass him for a better chance at competing with the drivers ahead.

Lewis Hamilton already started facing tire temperature issues early on during the Japanese GP. Hence, the 39-year-old was facing difficulties in fighting to move up the pecking order. On the contrary, George Russell looked more hopeful of a fight for scoring the podium. Hence, Hamilton was aware of this fact and decided to let his teammate pass him.

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Lewis Hamilton asked his radio engineer if he should let Russell ahead of him. The team decided to let the 26-year-old pass Hamilton to fight for a shot at a podium finish at the Japanese GP. The Briton mentioned how Russell had a much quicker drive compared to him. Additionally, the seven-time world champion pointed out the understeer issues that he was sustaining in his W15 challenger.

FS Video
Shall i let George by?... He’s driving a lot quicker than me. I’ve got too much understeer.
Lewis Hamilton told his race engineer.

Lewis Hamilton loses multiple positions before making a pitstop at the Japanese GP

The struggles have continued throughout the race for Lewis Hamilton at the Japanese GP. The 39-year-old lost out on multiple positions before even pitting for another compound. Mercedes decided to stick to a long stint with the hard tires from the beginning of the race. However, this strategy might not have paid much dividends to Hamilton and Russell.

Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)
Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

Lando Norris pulled off a spectacular move on Lewis Hamilton on the outside of the first two corners. Additionally, the seven-time world champion was passed by Sergio Perez as well as Carlos Sainz before pitting. Hence, the 39-year-old’s hope of a podium finish at Suzuka was shattered following the lack of pace in the race.

Lewis Hamilton would be looking to salvage some points in Suzuka despite the woeful pace. The seven-time world champion will continue to attempt to maximize results with Mercedes throughout the 2024 season. Additionally, Brackley will keep on updating the W15 in order to juice out every inch of potential from its car to allow Hamilton to fight at the front of the grid.

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