With George Russell seemingly being given preference over Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes’ image is in shambles for the fans of the 7-time champion. They accused Toto Wolff & Co. of “sabotaging” their driver in Canada with an unfair strategy. From slamming Russell for an “undeserved podium” to saying that Hamilton was “robbed”, the LH army left no stone unturned. But in a very subtle way, Mercedes has responded to such negativity on their social media.

In the latter half of the Canadian GP, when the rain stopped, and the sun shone in all its glory, teams ditched the Intermediate tires for Slicks. But the Silver Arrows had already used all of Hamilton’s Medium tires before the race. This forced him to run till the end on new Hard tires, which were naturally slower. Russell, however, was left with a fresh set of Medium tires, giving him the much-needed speed boost over his teammate.

So, Hamilton, who had climbed up to P3, was easily overtaken by Russell to end his podium hopes. This did not go down well with the 7-time champion’s fans. But among all the negative comments under Mercedes’ post dedicated to their 26-year-old driver’s 12th F1 podium, one fan chose to stand up for their team. “For god’s sake. it’s the first podium this year FOR THE TEAM, can’t you just be happy about that?”: they said. Using this statement to display their stance against the criticism, the official Mercedes page liked the comment.

Moreover, Mercedes has made a statement without making a statement. Though Hamilton was quite vocal in his disappointment after the race, Russell went the opposite and described their intra-team battle as “hard and fair”.

George Russell gives a classy response after battle with ‘Great’ Lewis Hamilton

After George Russell secured an extraordinary Pole position on Saturday, he credited Lewis Hamilton for his success. He revealed that he looked at a lot of his teammate’s data from when he was “absolutely flying in FP3”. Even after the battle on Sunday, he kept his cool when addressing the elephant in the room. When questioned about their unanticipated battle for the podium, which, on losing, left Hamilton devastated, Russell replied, “Always with Lewis, it’s really hard and fair. When you’re racing with one of the greats, you know that you can trust them. And that was really great to see at the end.”

The tension within Mercedes is at an all-time high. The last time Wolff had to deal with such a situation was probably during the Nico Rosberg days. But it is surprising how the dirty laundry has been aired publicly. Though this is Hamilton’s last year with them, the Silver Arrows need to handle the matter delicately and avoid any bigger controversies.

What’s your take on Russell’s response? Share your thoughts in the comments.