Debate | Frustration at Hamilton and Russell shows Mercedes problems

Mercedes struggled badly in the Grand Prix weekend in Japan. In qualifying, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were second-placed by Max Verstappen. On Sunday in the race, things were not much better, and a spot on the podium was far out of reach. The Mercedes drivers also battled hard with each other, and in the process, some frustration did surface.

In the first laps of the Japan Grand Prix, Russell and Hamilton battled hard. Russell was clearly faster than his teammate - who may have had some damage to his W14 from his collision with Sergio Perez - and opened the attack on Hamilton. Several times, the Mercedes drivers went wheel-to-wheel, but in the end, Hamilton held firm. Once, the seven-time world champion pushed his teammate roughly off the track, resulting in a frustrated board radio from Russell. In it, the young Briton mainly wondered whether the Mercedes drivers would not be better off fighting with the other cars instead of each other.

In the final stage of the race, the two Mercedes drivers met again, this time with Hamilton ahead of Russell. Hamilton was driving on much newer tyres, as Russell was on a one-stopper. Using Carlos Sainz's DRS tactics in Singapore, the Mercedes drivers seemed to keep the Spaniard behind, but in the end, Russell was instructed to let his teammate pass. This again caused question marks for Russell. Later, the same thing happened to Hamilton when the seven-time world champion was asked if he could slow down to give Russell DRS. Do the visible frustrations of Hamilton and Russell in Japan show a bigger problem within Mercedes?