Mercedes clarifies George Russell's two-stop approach during the F1 Spanish GP.

Mercedes' deputy team principal Bradley Lord has clarified the rationale behind George Russell's decision to pit during the virtual safety car period, even though he had begun the race on hard tyres in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Russell was the sole competitor among the leading teams who opted not to execute a one-stop strategy on a Montmelo circuit where overtaking opportunities were scarce, primarily due to the timing of the VSC deployment.

Race officials neutralised the race at the conclusion of lap 14, benefitting the top four drivers, who had started on medium or soft tyres – with the exception of Lando Norris, who was already past the pit lane entry when the VSC was initiated.

Drivers like Charles Leclerc and Russell commenced the race on hard tyres. Leclerc opted to stay out, maintaining the lead until his pit stop on lap 45, while Russell switched to medium tyres during the VSC before reverting to hards on lap 28.

In the meantime, Mercedes teammate and championship frontrunner Kimi Antonelli claimed victory, aided by the fortunate timing of the neutralisation that allowed him to bypass polesitter Norris.

“The VSC had a very different impact on George; it came at the worst time for him since he had started on hards and aimed to extend his stint to take advantage of any incidents later in the race,” Lord explained.

“He entered the race on hard tyres from P6 with a strategy to complete a one-stop. When the VSC was deployed, he was the second car on hard tyres behind Leclerc's Ferrari. Thus, we instructed George to ‘box opposite to Leclerc’.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

“Why? Because had we not made that call, he would have just followed Leclerc to the end. The chance for an undercut was very limited, and overtaking was nearly impossible for cars on similarly aged tyres.

“So we moved George to the medium. We recognized that the medium wouldn’t last for 43 laps to the finish, but by taking a different approach – George completed a 20-lap stint before switching back to the hard tyre, since it was crucial to be on that compound for the majority of the race.

“George then showcased some remarkable performance. He was quick enough to draw Leclerc into the pits likely earlier than Ferrari intended, granting Kimi clear air at the front and also putting pressure on Leclerc during the final laps on the soft tyre, which was quite fragile, ultimately finishing just 0.7 seconds behind.

“After the race, George was quite practical, stating that he didn’t believe it would have made much difference whether we had left him out or brought him in; he was likely to finish in P5 regardless, given the challenges of overtaking at Montmelo.”

Although Russell clocked the fastest lap by four tenths, his disappointing finish further dented his championship aspirations. The Brit now finds himself 81 points behind Antonelli and feels it is “exceptionally unlikely” that he will contend for the title.