Mercedes team orders were planned for Zandvoort: 'It was already discussed'

After the Virtual Safety Car, Kimi Antonelli was on a different strategy and was running behind George Russell when the team asked the Briton to let his teammate through. The Italian crossed the finish line in second place, while Russell did well to hold on to third, just ahead of the two Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Speaking on The Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show, Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord and Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin addressed the team's decision at Zandvoort.

Lord was not concerned about how the decision would be received. He said: "Because of the early red flag and the delayed schedule, we held the full debrief on Monday rather than immediately after the race. George naturally questioned the instruction when he first received it, but he understood the wider picture."

Russell couldn't pit under the VSC because he would have then lost positions to the Ferraris. Lord continued: "We had also been very clear in the Sunday morning strategy meeting that the field was too close for our drivers to lose time fighting one another. That discussion provided the basis for the decision.

Shovlin also explained why Antonelli was not instructed to stay ahead of Russell to give him overtake mode in his battle against the Ferraris. The Briton said: "We discussed it. The gain was around two tenths of a second, principally on the straight, which was also where George was most vulnerable. There was a concern that trying something we had not rehearsed could cause the cars to become entangled.

"George’s defence was extremely impressive. You might not have given him even a 50 per cent chance of keeping both Ferraris behind. The Virtual Safety Car helped cool the situation for a lap or two and allowed him to manage his energy, but he executed the defence superbly," he concluded by praising Russell.

Lord then added : "DRS was a more predictable tool for this type of tactic. Energy deployment is less predictable, and Zandvoort was also easier to overtake at than Singapore was in the race where that DRS tactic became famous."