Former F1 Chief Peter Windsor has accused Mercedes of poor radio communication with Lewis Hamilton following the controversial Belgium Grand Prix.
George Russell took the flag at Spa but was later disqualified from the race due to his car being under the required weight by the FIA leading to Hamilton inheriting the victory.
Russell initially took the win due to a remarkable tire strategy which saw him take one set of tires from lap 11 to the end of the race, with all of the other top runners stopping in the pits twice.
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The age difference on Russell's tires made him significantly slower than the approaching pack, but the Brit expertly defended from Hamilton in the final laps to claim 1st place.
Hamilton failed to overtake Russell despite a tire advantage, but ex-F1 Chief Windsor believes that is down to a specific radio message sent to Hamilton as he approached his teammate.
"I thought it was quite interesting with two or three laps to go, and they said 'just give each other a lot of space' to Lewis, I think they should have been giving that message to George actually," Windsor said on his YouTube channel.
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"They gave it to Lewis and I wonder if that changed things a little bit, that's unnecessary to say that to Lewis Hamilton I think because he's not the sort of driver that ever really does anything incredibly stupid, particularly with a team-mate."
Windsor must be forgetting the Qatar GP from last season, where Hamilton took both himself and Russell out at turn one.
Therefore it does make sense why Hamilton received the message rather than Russell, particularly considering the 39-year-old was the one on the attack.
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Mercedes' main threat during the closing stages was Oscar Piastri who was tailing the two Mercs, however, the McLaren was too far back to make a dive for 1st unless there was a squabble between the front two.
Despite all the controversy, Russell's DSQ meant Hamilton walked away with maximum points regardless, and Mercedes can head into the summer break knowing they were the car to beat on two separate strategies in Belgium.
It all points to a very exciting second half of the season.
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Mercedes, Oscar Piastri
Tom Jenkins