FIA WEC, 6 Hours of Imola Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an Italian F1 pilot, stands on the grid before the FIA World Endurance Championship, 6 Hours of Imola, at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari racetrack on April 19, 2026, in Imola, Italy. Imola Italy Italy PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRA Copyright: xRobertoxTommasinix originalFilename:tommasini-fiawec6h260419_npHAi.jpg

Aug 27, 2026, 1:16 PM CUT

“Kimi came out behind George”- Mercedes team responds to why they swapped cars at the F1 Dutch GP

Mercedes made a late call at Zandvoort that saw George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli swap positions, but the decision wasn't about favoring one driver over the other.

The team wanted to prevent Russell from losing valuable time to the Ferraris while allowing Antonelli to make the most of his fresher tires.

“Kimi came out behind George. So we swapped the cars to save race time for George,” Mercedes Track Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said.

Shovlin explained that the position swap was less about stopping Antonelli from passing Russell and more about avoiding a battle that could have compromised Russell's podium.

“Kimi had enough grip to pass him regardless, but if we had allowed them to fight, George would have lost time to the Ferraris, giving them more time to attack and pass him," Shovlin added, according to Bernardo Castro of Grande Premio.

F1 Japanese Grand Prix 2026 Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes during the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan on March 29, 2026. Suzuka Japan PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRA Copyright: xJakubxPorzyckix originalFilename:porzycki-f1japane260329_npKmn.jpg

The decision came after a Virtual Safety Car on lap 55, when Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc pitted for fresh tires. Mercedes also brought Antonelli in, but the Italian returned to the track behind Russell, who had stayed out.

Antonelli returned to the track behind Russell, who had stayed out. However, the Italian had a clear tire advantage and was expected to be able to pass his teammate once racing resumed.

Mercedes then acted on that tire advantage on lap 66, asking Russell to move aside at Turn 1 and let Antonelli through. Antonelli went after race leader Lando Norris, while Russell turned his attention to defending his podium spot from the Ferraris.

The strategy gave Antonelli the chance to use his fresher tires while keeping Russell from getting dragged into an unnecessary fight. But Russell was initially unsure about giving up the position.

George Russell questioned the team order before accepting it

Speaking at the post-race press conference on August 23, 2026, George Russell explained why he initially questioned Mercedes’ team order and later accepted the decision to let Andrea Kimi Antonelli through.

“We've always said as a team, when we're on different strategies, we're never going to fight, and we're always going to invert, and that's always just been our sort of rules,” Russell said in a @PitLane YouTube video.

Russell said the VSC simply put that team rule into practice, with Antonelli taking the alternate strategy after Mercedes saw what the Ferraris had done.

“And the fact is Kimi was ahead of me before the VSC, and he tried something different to protect us as a team. He kind of copy-pasted what the Ferraris did,” Russell added.

Russell also admitted that keeping Antonelli behind could have put his own finishing position at risk.

“Could I have kept him behind? Maybe. But equally, it could have been a P5 as well. So, in the end, he deserved to be P2. I think P3 was a fair result for me,” he added.

In the end, Mercedes got what it wanted from the switch: Antonelli could attack on his fresher tires, while Russell avoided an unnecessary fight with the Ferraris.

Russell may have questioned the call initially, but he ultimately agreed that P3 was a fair result.

Written by

Divyanshi Raj

Edited by

Rudra Dubey