Since the summer break, the entire motorsport community had been longing for a Grand Prix without Red Bull oozing the fun out of it. And boy did the much-yearned weekend arrive, and that too, in some fashion. The 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, from the word go, proved to be extremely unpredictable with Max Verstappen and Co. tumbling the order whilst his rivals, including Lewis Hamilton, showed signs of resurgence.
And it all blew out of proportion during the main race on Sunday. As expected, neither Verstappen nor his teammate Sergio Perez managed to challenge for the top three, paving the way for what was one of the greatest four-way battles for the race victory. While Carlos Sainz led the way from the front, Lando Norris was barely inches behind the Spaniard followed by the two raging Mercedes drivers.
Indeed, there is absolutely no denying that Mercedes’ strategy was precise and almost earned them a 1-2 finish for the first time since the Brazilian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, there was a minor flaw; Russell was ahead of Hamilton. Yes, the former looked quite pumped up and competitive enough to challenge for the victory.
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However, it all went haywire when the young Briton encountered the herculean task of beating Norris who somehow managed to hang onto the leading Ferrari. Russell pushed all the way till the end seeking a way past the McLaren, only to crash into the barriers, barely a few corners away from the chequered flag. Hence, the question arises, should Russell have let Hamilton pass?
Did Mercedes make a mistake by not swapping positions with Lewis Hamilton & George Russell?
According to a majority of the F1 viewers, Mercedes should’ve let Hamilton launch an attack on Norris, as Russell began slowing down on what was the most crucial part of the race. One fan wrote on X, “Hamilton would’ve won that if he was ahead of Russell.” Take a look at more such reactions.
Hamilton would’ve won that is he was ahead of Russell
— Thomas Fox 🏴 (@Foxydude98) September 17, 2023
Lewis Hamilton could’ve won this race. Easilyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
— deni (@fiagirly) September 17, 2023
Lewis Hamilton would have won this race but his teammate deciding that it was more important to have the rep of being the man who beat Lewis in the same car was more important to him than the team so he ran him off in the first corner of Lap 1.
— Sidi Luís (@amal_shura) September 17, 2023
Mercedes definitely needed the experience of Hamilton to break Norris’ shield. In fact, it was the seven-time world champion who drove an insane race at Monza a couple of weekends back, where he managed to remain unaffected by a time penalty while also gaining two positions in a handful of laps. Hence, there is no denying that Mercedes will assess the decisions made at the Singapore Grand Prix.
But, the question is, after such a bitter-sweet weekend, can the eight-time world champions bounce back at the Japanese Grand Prix?