Mercedes had no alternative to using “really terrible hard tyres”

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton said they endured a “challenging” Japanese Grand Prix after running two hard tyre stints.

The pair were the only drivers in the top ten to opt to change to hard tyres for the race restart after the red flag at the start. Despite admitting running two stints on the hard tyre was difficult, Russell defended Mercedes’ red flag strategy call.

“I think it was the right decision, starting on the hards, because it gave us the flexibility to do the one-stop or the two-stop,” Russell told Sky. “If we started on the medium after the red flag, you’re committed to the two-stop.

“It was a bit of a challenging first stint. I was stuck behind Lewis, I think he was struggling a bit with the fronts. It would have been good to be in that fight ahead, because after that first pit stop I think we were flying on a line with Lando [Norris] and Charles [Leclerc] ahead.”

Hamilton let his team mate pass him during the opening stint. He said he did so after he suspected he sustained damage when being passed by Leclerc at turn three at the restart.

“I think I picked up a bit of damage at the beginning when Charles came around on the outside and had huge understeer for the first stint,” he explained. “I couldn’t turn the car into any of the corners – that’s why I let George go.”

Hamilton is unsure whether Mercedes would have fared any better had they not chosen to restart on the hard tyres.

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“I don’t know what the different strategy would have been, whether we should’ve stayed on the medium to start with,” he said. “But we still had two really terrible hard tyres to run through. So a real challenge today.”

While he finished ninth, Russell eventually caught and passed Oscar Piastri to take seventh place on the last lap. He was investigated for allegedly forcing the McLaren driver off the track at the chicane earlier on, but the stewards chose to take no action against him.

“It was a late move from my side down the inside,” he explained. “We made contact. I think there was enough room for us both to stay on the track. I think I would have been a little bit more upset had I finished the race behind him in the end.”

Asked where he feels Mercedes sit relative to their rivals, Russell says that the competition behind Red Bull is closer than it may appear.

“I think when you look how close those three different manufacturers, with Oscar and…