George Russell insists team orders are "not even a consideration at the moment" for Mercedes, with the British driver trailing Kimi Antonelli by 59 points coming out of the F1 summer break.
Given that the campaign is either at its halfway point or just before it, depending on upcoming calendar changes, he was keen to stress that the emphasis is squarely on "pushing as a team" and continuing to improve the W17.
The 28-year-old started the year in fine form, taking a commanding victory at the curtain raiser in Melbourne. But then his Mercedes team-mate went on a run of five successive victories, wrestling control of the title fight, which he has yet to relinquish.
With Lewis Hamilton a looming threat to Antonelli — sitting second in the standings nine points ahead of Russell — as the schedule heads to a crescendo, the questions about and calls for team orders will only grow louder, especially if the Briton cannot reduce his arrears in the championship.
However, he maintains it is far too early for Mercedes to implement, or even think about enacting them, with so much racing still left to go.
"It's not even a consideration at the moment," Russell informed media, including RacingNews365. It's not even halfway through, and we need to just keep on pushing as a team.
"We're behind the curve of development. Our rivals have definitely brought their upgrades before us, and I think it'll be very interesting when we bring our upgrades — when they will be, and how that impacts our performance."
Mercedes is "out of phase" with rival F1 teams in the upgrade fight, as technical director James Allison has pointed out. Team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed the Brackley-based squad has deliberately geared its updates towards the second half of the year.
To Russell, that will be key to determining how things pan out, as he aims to recapture the form his showcased at Albert Park.
"And I'm hoping that will push us more to the results we were seeing more consistently at the start of the year," the seven-time grand prix winner added.
"Of course, we've continued to perform very strongly. However, the teams like McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari have been really, really close and given a really good fight recently. So at the moment it's just business as usual."
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