George Russell managed to hold on to third place at Zandvoort by defending from Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race. But behind that, the Mercedes pit wall played a key role by asking him to let Kimi Antonelli through.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has revealed that the team orders were actually aimed at helping Russell avoid losing valuable time. At that point, Antonelli emerged from his pit stop with fresh tyres and was clearly faster. If the two had been allowed to race each other, Russell would have lost time and opened the door for Ferrari to attack.
The crucial moment came after the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) period on lap 55 of 72. Both Ferraris took the opportunity to pit for new tyres. Mercedes responded by bringing Antonelli in the following lap, and he came out just ahead of the Ferraris. Meanwhile, Russell, who stayed out, was running in fourth and trying to defend.
"The VSC came out on lap 55, both Ferraris took it, so they were going to be on fresh rubber by the restart," Shovlin explained in the team's debrief video. "Kimi dropped behind George after the stop. Now, why did we invert the cars? Well, that was really about saving George race time. Kimi had the grip to get through, but if we'd allowed them to race each other, George would have lost time to the Ferraris and the Ferraris would have had more time to attack and try and get through."
Russell himself admitted after the race that it was the right decision from the pit wall. He then defended brilliantly from the fast-approaching Hamilton behind. As a result, Mercedes secured a double podium finish, with Russell crossing the line 0.8s ahead of Hamilton, while Charles Leclerc finished fifth another 0.5s behind.
The double podium was a sweet result for Mercedes, especially given that McLaren and Ferrari appeared to have better pace at Zandvoort. Shovlin praised Russell's defence as one of the highlights of the race. "George defended brilliantly and it was great to see him on the podium. He really deserved that result," he concluded.
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