Lewis Hamilton lost out to Mercedes teammate George Russell once again at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend. Russell has been on top since Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari for 2025.
He qualified two spots ahead in fifth to improve his head-to-head record to 7-1. Only Max Verstappen (8-0 vs Sergio Perez) and Alex Albon (7-0 vs Logan Sargeant) are faring better in this category.
With the top 10 all holding their positions on Sunday, Russell also took a 6-2 lead in the race-day battle. He’s now 12 points ahead of Hamilton in the drivers’ championship.
The former Williams driver did enjoy a key advantage in Monaco in the form of a new front wing. Mercedes built it ahead of schedule, but the problem was that it only had one available.
The explanation for Russell running it was that Hamilton was worried about damage. If he broke it in qualifying and Mercedes had to replace it with the old wing, he’d face a back-of-the-grid start for breaching parc ferme rules.
This isn’t the first time this season that one driver in a team has been able to run an upgrade first. Esteban Ocon had priority at Alpine at the Chinese GP, as did Lando Norris in Miami as Oscar Piastri had to settle for a 50%-complete version of the revised McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton wants first use of next Mercedes upgrade
Speaking on Mercedes’ Race Debrief following the Monaco weekend, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin offered some insight on the conversations that had taken place behind the scenes. He says Hamilton made the decision ‘quite simple’.
While he had concerns about running the new front wing in Monaco, he does still expect priority the next time Mercedes find themselves with only one upgrade available. The Silver Arrows will be mounting an aggressive development push as they try to reel in the top three in the championship.
“Lewis said ‘if we’re going to start [running upgrades] when we haven’t got enough parts, let George run it in Monaco,” Shovlin said. “There will be races in the future where we have a single update and of course we just alternate from here on in’. Lewis made that decision quite simple for us.”
Martin Brundle not convinced by what Hamilton is saying about Ferrari
The narrative around Hamilton and Russell is particularly intriguing given that the seven-time world champion is on his way out. The latter will want to demonstrate that he’s ready to lead the team from 2025 onwards.
Mercedes have been quick to control the narrative around the Monaco upgrade. They clearly wanted to preclude any accusations of favouritism given that only one of their drivers is part of their long-term future.
Things remain outwardly amicable at Brackley but Damon Hill believes difficult conversations are on the horizon. He’s pointed out that, at some stage, team principal Toto Wolff will have to shut Hamilton out.
He won’t want the British driver taking too many secrets with him to Ferrari, whether they concern next year’s car or the 2026 project. Hamilton has said he remains fully focused on Mercedes until the end of the season, but Martin Brundle isn’t so sure.
He thinks it’s inevitable that Hamilton will be watching what’s happening over at Ferrari. He’ll enjoy what he’s seen so far, with the Scuderia winning two races and closing to within 24 points of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
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