Toto Wolff lauds Lewis Hamilton for allowing George Russell to pass in Miami
Mercedes issued team instructions via their team radio requesting that Hamilton did not obstruct Russell’s charge.
"We have George 1.1 behind," Hamilton was told by his engineer.
"We aren't racing him. We are racing Esteban Ocon. So let's not hold each other up."
Hamilton said: "He can go by but I am not backing off though."
Hamilton did let Russell through - the younger driver finished in P4, the seven-time world champion settled for P6.
Mercedes team principal Wolff insisted that he did not expect any issue from requesting that Hamilton prioritised Russell in that moment.
“No, absolutely not. George was a stop ahead,” Wolff said.
“To see two teammates, both on very good levels, they are both so straightforward.
“That is good at such a difficult moment.”
The subject of relationship between teammates has continually cropped up this season as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen battles Sergio Perez with the F1 title at stake.
Christian Horner even teased Wolff that Red Bull were navigating that awkwardness better than Mercedes did when they had Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on top.
But Mercedes are in a very different place this season, and Wolff reacted to the F1 Miami Grand Prix: “The car was good today.
“From P13 it’s pretty difficult if you start on the same strategy as everyone else to pass.
“Therefore we went with hards. Then we saw others had thought the same.
“Considering the strategy hope that we had, that nobody would start on the hards, was diminished, he drove a great race.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
