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After Abandoning Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes Display Favoritism Towards “Only Chance” George Russell

Published 09/21/2023, 6:30 AM EDT

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Do you recall how Lewis Hamilton was down last season after George Russell beat the 7x champ in the championship? It seemed like a domino effect started by Max Verstappen at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. One would expect Mercedes to step up and support its driver to stop the dominos from falling further. However, it was quite the opposite. Mercedes displayed favoritism toward George Russell after abandoning Lewis Hamilton at the Singapore GP. But what did they do?

Every time Lewis Hamilton has tried to get back up since the 2021 incident, he’s been pushed down by one thing or another. The porpoising, beaten by Russell, Mercedes not listening to his demands, Angela Cullen leaving, and now the abandonment. Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium at the Singapore GP after George Russell crashed into the barrier on the final lap while pursuing Norris and Sainz for the win.

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To Lewis Hamilton’s surprise, when he reached the Parc Ferme, none of his team was there to celebrate with him. After shredding 2 kg during the race, the least Hamilton would’ve expected was for his team to show up. It is believed that the mechanics were busy recovering Russell’s car as Hamilton sat by himself in Parc Ferme. Recently, George Russell revealed that he was constructed by a chief engineer after the Singapore crash. 

According to @russellfiles’ Tweet that quoted Formula 1, George Russell said, “I had a nice call from one of the chief engineers who said ‘George, the only reason we had a chance of victory was because of the amazing job you did the whole weekend’. These things happen, we were pushing ourselves above and beyond and went all in for the win, and a street circuit bites when you make a mistake by one or two centimeters. I’m not going to let it affect me, it’s history.”

Russell was told that he was the reason why the team got into the winning position in the first place. Contrary to Hamilton, who never takes credit for himself and always advises that it’s a team effort and thanks his team for pushing hard for the result. However, after the Singapore GP, Hamilton uploaded a cryptic post on his Instagram.

Lewis Hamilton’s Lonely post from the Singapore GP

Lewis Hamilton is super active on social media. The Briton wisely used his platform to post some lonely pictures from the Singapore GP. Most of the Mercedes team was believed to be recovering Russell’s car and hence wasn’t able to make it to the Parc Ferme. However, this wasn’t the first time it had happened. A similar thing happened in Australia where Lewis Hamilton was surprised to not see his team in Parc Ferme as he said, “Where the F**k” is my team. ?”

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Nonetheless, Ferrari and McLaren saw Hamilton sitting by himself and cheered on for the 7x champ and celebrated his podium with him. The pictures posted by Hamilton on Instagram depict the emotions of loneliness and disappointment. In a picture, he’s seen sitting by himself next to the car while in another one he’s walking away from the camera all by himself.

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Written by:

Pranay Bhagi

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Pranay Bhagi is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports, who has always been passionate about sports and writing. With a degree from a prestigious institute, he has channeled his enthusiasm into sports journalism, particularly F1, a sport that has captivated him for over a decade. He has exemplified his passion for the sport via his 800-plus articles.
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Edited by:

Akash Pandhare