Mercedes driver George Russell conceded the team's decision to swap him with Formula 1 team-mate Kimi Antonelli at the end of the Dutch Grand Prix was the "right decision" as they fought for second behind winner Lando Norris.
Antonelli and Russell were running second and fourth, behind leader Norris and split by Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, when a late virtual safety car for a stricken Esteban Ocon provided one last twist in a chaotic afternoon at Zandvoort.
Hamilton used the VSC situation to make a cheaper pitstop for used soft tyres on lap 56 of 72, which forced a reaction out of Mercedes as it brought in Antonelli to defend against Ferrari's undercut.
But Mercedes kept Russell out instead, as he would have ended behind Hamilton anyway, effectively handing the Briton second on the road ahead of Antonelli and Hamilton.
On older hard tyres, Russell soon came under pressure from Antonelli before he was ordered to let his championship-leading team-mate past. Russell obeyed without much delay, but not without questioning the move as he tried to salvage a podium.
Another late VSC helped Russell defend third against Hamilton, though, netting Mercedes a double podium on a day it was outperformed by McLaren for the second consecutive race weekend.
In hindsight, Russell admitted the swap was the correct decision because Antonelli would have passed him anyway on much quicker tyres. "Kimi was ahead of me anyway, so he deserved to finish ahead," Russell said.
"When you're in the race, you want to fight for every single position. But with the pace, with the new tyre, he would have overtaken anyway, so it was the right decision. I'm just happy to be standing on the podium. It's been a little while for me. It's been a strong weekend overall, so I'll take the positives."
Kimi Antonelli and George Russell took second and third
Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images
Antonelli thanked Russell for playing the team game, though he was concerned by McLaren's strong burst of pace over the past two race weekends,
"George was a great team player and really happy for him to have held on to P3 as well," the Italian added as he reinforced his championship lead over Hamilton.
"It was a very intense race and I managed to get the lead. In stint one I felt okay, but then from stint two onwards, I just didn't have the feeling with the car. I was sliding a lot overall and at the end Lando passed me and I knew I had no chance after that.
"We need to find a little bit of time because McLaren have made a huge step."
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Originally published by motorsport.com —
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