Jenson Button has stated that Lewis Hamilton, who seemed to be complaining about the situation during qualifying, consented to allow George Russell to have upgrades this weekend.
Hamilton qualified seventh fastest on Saturday and will start two positions behind his Mercedes teammate in the Monaco Grand Prix. He was keen to clarify afterwards that Russell was the one driving the automobile with the better specification.
“I knew it would be hard to beat George because he has the upgraded component, but it’s fantastic to see that we are bringing improvements,” he remarked. Before I even start qualifying, I can immediately see that I’m going to lose two tenths. That is undoubtedly annoying.
Hamilton continued, “I don’t anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying particularly this year, but we’ve just got to keep pushing and the races are strong.” Hamilton has only defeated Russell once in Grand Prix qualifying this year.
The seven-time Formula One champion stated, “We’ll see,” with a simple smile. When asked why he thinks that will happen, the captain answered. Given that he is departing for Ferrari at the conclusion of the season, some felt he might have been hinting at some favoritism inside the squad.
But Button, Hamilton’s former McLaren teammate, doesn’t think that’s the case. As a pundit for Sky Sports F1, the 2009 drivers’ champion gave an explanation of the circumstances and the reason behind Russell using the upgraded front wing rather than his teammate.
“From what we’ve heard, they decided among themselves to use the front wing,” he remarked. He was unwilling to leave qualifying and risk injury.
“From what we’ve heard, they decided among themselves to use the front wing,” he remarked. He didn’t want to leave qualifying, risk damaging it, and then have to start the race from the back with a new, separate front wing.”
With Hamilton’s departure imminent, it is only fitting that Russell will become the focal point as the season goes on, regardless of whether Mercedes has started to exhibit preferences. And as she considered Hamilton’s circumstances, Naomi Schiff, Button’s coworker at Sky, brought it to light.
“Lewis hinted that [Russell] does have a new component on his car, which I think is quite an interesting factor,” the woman remarked. For a very long time, Lewis has been that team’s top driver. Right now, he’s the most successful driver in Formula 1. Lewis must be unfamiliar with the psychology that goes into becoming the driver who is not given preference.
“I believe he is aware of the circumstances, but that’s probably a hard pill to swallow. But we have to give George a lot of credit since, in addition to having that part on the vehicle, he also had problems with the car during practice and didn’t do as many laps as the other drivers, so his ability to recover is impressive.”
Leave a Reply