The Monaco Grand Prix saw Mercedes bring a key upgrade to the W15, but it was only George Russell who got the upgrade. Rumors soon emerged of favoritism by Mercedes, given Lewis Hamilton is on his way out at the end of the season. As tensions grew high, George Russell took it upon himself to reveal the true reason behind Hamilton not getting the upgrade in Monaco.
Quoted by SilverArrows.net, George Russell revealed that it was Lewis Hamilton himself, who asked his teammate to have the upgrade. Reportedly, there was going to be a coin toss to determine who would get the upgrade. However, Hamilton declined to take part in the coin toss, asking Russell to have the upgrade.
‼️UNSERIOUS. Apparently they were going to do a “coin toss” for the front wing upgrade which Sir Lewis Hamilton declined and tbh, why wouldn’t he lol.
George Russell : “There was one front wing this weekend and it was agreed on Tuesday that we’d do a coin toss and see who got… pic.twitter.com/tSR4rs0L6M
— sim (@sim3744) May 29, 2024
“There was one front wing this weekend and it was agreed on Tuesday that we’d do a coin toss and see who got it. I thought it was a belated birthday present he gave me, saying I could use it.”
Since the start of the 2024 season, Russell has led Hamilton in the head-to-head stats of the Qualifying session. Following the Monaco GP, the 26-year-old now leads 7-1. Addressing the disparity, Hamilton claimed that moving forward, he expects the gap to increase as Russell will continue to enjoy the advantage. In turn, Toto Wolff addressed the claims of the 7-time world champion.
Toto Wolff explains the claims of Lewis Hamilton
Asked by the F1 media about Hamilton’s statement, Toto Wolff said that all drivers can be skeptical at times. He added that as a team, Mercedes has often demonstrated that they try to balance things and be transparent and fair with their drivers. Wolff further claimed that as a driver, one wants the best for themselves and their team. And “sometimes when it’s going against you, you can question it.”
Mercedes didn’t informing Lewis Hamilton that his outlap was critical to undercut Max Verstappen instead [the broadcast didn’t include] he was told to do a ‘normal outlap’.
This sums up the current disastrous state of the team under Toto Wolff’s leadership. pic.twitter.com/oloEYvQNdh
— ً (@tsimiks) May 26, 2024
The 49-year-old also said that Mercedes is on a mission to give both its drivers two best possible cars as a team. He asserted that the Silver Arrows also focused on providing Lewis Hamilton and George Russell with “the best possible strategies and support.”
While on the topic of the #44 driver, the Mercedes team principal also discussed what went wrong in Monaco. Lewis Hamilton was frustrated with his team after he wasn’t told to push sooner in his charge to undercut Max Verstappen. He said that it was a miscommunication on the team’s part as they should have sent an ‘out-lap critical’ message.
