Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have promised to work together to prevent Max Verstappen from taking his 16th win of the season in Brazil. Mercedes has yet to cross the checkered flag in first place this term, but it has a great opportunity in Sao Paulo.
Russell will start from pole, alongside his teammate Hamilton. And they’re willing to work together to make sure Red Bull doesn’t come out on top once again, even if one of them has to sacrifice his own career.
“We’ll work together as a team tomorrow. And, you know, it’s about the team,” Hamilton said. “We have to get this result for the team. I think it would be incredibly special. And obviously, we’re chasing the red guys. So that could be good.”
Russell suggested that he and Hamilton could pursue a “split strategy” to further their chances of securing their first victory, but that would be a risk for one of the Mercedes.
“It’s crazy to think we both started from the front row and Lewis did a great job from eighth, so it’s going to be exciting,” Russell said. “And I’m sure Max will fly tomorrow, beating the pack. But we’re in a fancy position where maybe we can split the strategy and go for the win.”
Russell had an excellent sprint race on Saturday, where he was able to beat Verstappen to comfortably close out pole position, securing eight championship points in the process.
Russell explained: “I think we were confident we could finish second, and we thought Max would probably have a pretty easy race to be honest.
“We knew that if we weren’t ahead of him at Turn 1, it was going to be very difficult to stay ahead of him. I started attacking in the first couple of laps. And I thought once he got some temperature in the tyres, he’ll be there. out. And it was a little tricky. You had to balance risk and reward, because obviously, you know, there’s just one bonus point…
“As much as I wanted to win this race today, it’s just an extra point and you’re obviously preparing for tomorrow. So you had to be a little careful.”
Russell also clarified that there will be no team order if he is left to battle Hamilton for the win.
“There will definitely be no team orders,” he said. “But I think between the two of us we will definitely be strategic in trying to get that win for the team.”
“I think as we saw in Mexico, we both did the same strategy and ultimately it affected both of us. Sitting here right now, we probably don’t know what the right strategy is going to be. So, you know, we’re going to compete against each other. fairly of course and I’m sure we’ll probably split the strategies tomorrow to try and cover all the options.
“And, you know, hopefully one of us will walk out happy tomorrow. But I think we both recognize based on recent experience that we’re probably going to have to go our separate ways.”
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