Nico Rosberg on Mercedes, Russell and Antonelli: “That would be a disaster”

The closing stages of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort: Kimi Antonelli, on fresher tyres, was quickly closing the gap on his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who was ahead of him. Mercedes asked them to swap positions.

Russell questioned this at first, but then made way after all, and after the race the Briton said: “It’s no big deal, because Kimi was faster on his newer tyres and would have caught me anyway.”

Nico Rosberg, who won the Formula 1 World Championship with Mercedes in 2016, said following the World Championship race on the North Sea coast: “I can understand the team orders; the team was under threat, and the two drivers have to drive for the team. I, too, had to let Lewis past once in Monaco, even though we were competing against each other in the battle for the World Championship.”

“It was a similar situation at Zandvoort. The good team result was under threat from the two Ferraris. Mercedes assumed that George would have major pace issues towards the end of the race and that the Ferraris could therefore threaten not only his position but also that of Kimi Antonelli, should Kimi get stuck behind George.”

“So both of Mercedes’ podium places were at risk. Of course, that’s a difficult situation for a team – a truly awful decision. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes and have to say that. And if I were in George’s position, it would hurt a great deal. It would be a disaster. But I can understand it, as I know the team rules very well.”

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Russell remained composed: “Kimi was ahead of me anyway, so he deserved to finish ahead of me.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff: “The decision may seem problematic from the outside, but internally it wasn’t. We’d discussed this situation many times, including on the morning before the race: ‘We won’t lose any time by battling each other whilst having two Ferraris hot on our heels.’ It would have been exactly the same the other way round. It doesn’t matter who’s leading the championship; it’s simply a matter of defending the best possible positions for Mercedes.”