George Russell is a Formula 1 Grand Prix winner. The 24-year-old has finally come of age and topped off his brilliant start to life at Mercedes with a win. The young Brit had nerves of steel during the second safety car period, even with Lewis Hamilton in his rearview mirrors.

The young Brit asked his engineer, “are we free to race?” before the final safety car was ending. However, if we are to believe Mercedes’ engineering chief, Andrew Shovlin, there was no other option but to race. The chief engineer used the example of other teams throughout the weekend to point out the clear understanding between the Mercedes pilots.

“We’ve got two drivers who, all they wanna do is race,” Shovlin said when asked about Russell’s radio question. “The reality is, the thing the two of them would absolutely hate is if we said we want to back it off, bring the car home, don’t attack each other.”

“We’ve seen some incidents in other teams across the course of the weekend, particularly in the sprint race. Our two looked it in and said ‘we wouldn’t do that to each other’. So it’s nice to see when you’re in a position as a team when you can just let them go for it and have some fun,” he added.

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Shovlin’s comments reveal the healthy competitive spirit between both drivers. This is a culmination of both pilots putting the team first and trying to get the best result, which would be the 2nd spot in the constructors’ table.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell put the team first as per their chief engineer

The two Mercedes men have endured a tough season. This win in the second to last race of the season resulted from consistent efforts from the entire team. The evident understanding better the two British drivers is also a bonus.

“The thing I’ve been really impressed was how well the two of them have worked together,” Shovlin admitted.

“They both want the team to win a race. They know it’s only going to be one of them who achieves it. The pair of them are a massive asset.”

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Shovlin also revealed the two were ready to experiment in whatever way the team wanted to get the win. The understanding between the two is definitely helping Mercedes get precious points. Can the pair get the team the second spot in WCC in Abu Dhabi?