拉塞尔对梅赛德斯车队指令态度大转弯
在荷兰大奖赛结束时被车队要求让队友兼直接争冠对手基米·安东内利通过后，梅赛德斯车手乔治·拉塞尔在赛后评估中表现出出人意料的大度。
梅赛德斯F1车手乔治·拉塞尔在赞德沃特荷兰大奖赛结束时被车队要求让队友兼直接争冠对手基米·安东内利通过，他在赛后评价中表现出令人意外的宽宏大量。
安东内利在（最初的）发车时超越了拉塞尔，但最终在梅赛德斯利用比赛后期的虚拟安全车机会为他换上软胎后，以更新的轮胎逼近了自己的队友。
当安东内利逼近拉塞尔时，双方存在明显的速度差（刘易斯·汉密尔顿和夏尔·勒克莱尔的法拉利赛车也在各自的VSC进站后逼近），因此梅赛德斯两位车手之间的超越看起来很可能发生——但并非板上钉钉。
拉塞尔最初曾请求梅赛德斯进行一些团队配合——意思是要么利用安东内利的赛车作为缓冲，要么在交换位置时故意让安东内利开启超车模式——他似乎已经意识到法拉利构成的威胁。车队本不太可能下达这样的指令，但当被告知要在1号弯挥手让安东内利通过时，他的语气听起来并不怎么服气。
但拉塞尔（Russell）在赛后承认领奖台"本来两种结果都有可能"的同时，出人意料地为这一策略辩护。"Kimi反正在我前面，所以他理应在我前面完赛，"他坚持说。
"当然，当你在比赛中时，你会想为每一个位置而战——但以新胎的速度，他反正也会完成超越。这是正确的决定。"
在荷兰大奖赛后的新闻发布会上，拉塞尔补充说，这次位置互换写进了梅赛德斯的车队规则之中。
"我们车队一直说，当我们使用不同策略时，我们绝不会相互争斗，而且总是会让位。这一直是我们的一条规矩……"
“我能把他[安东内利]留在后面吗？也许可以，但同样结果也可能变成第五名——所以最终他配得上第二名。我觉得第三名对我来说是个公平的结果，而且，是的，赛季还很长。”
赛后的这番反应与拉塞尔形成了鲜明对比——当安东内利被要求让到前面时（当时诺里斯已领先超过11秒），拉塞尔或许是带着讽刺地质问道：“他是在争冠军吗？还是打算去追诺里斯？”
在默许让位的过程中，拉塞尔相对于自己的节奏损失了约两秒——这至少引发了一个疑问：这次交换是否以最优方式执行，或者说选择的时机是否最优。
尽管他最终守住了领奖台，但一度第五名的结果看起来相当危险，因为汉密尔顿和勒克莱尔都开始对他形成围攻——就在汉密尔顿在主直道上准备发起超越时，比赛因虚拟安全车而暂停。
那么问题在于，拉塞尔在比赛刚结束后所表达的观点，是否会与他在私下里所说的一致——或者他的真实感受是否更接近他在车内最初的那股怒火。
理想情况下，他肯定希望有机会挡住轮胎更新的安东内利——毕竟他最终确实守住了法拉利，而且安东内利在下半场比赛中似乎明显受制于速度问题。
两人终点线之间四秒的差距并不能真正说明这次超越是必然的。但也许这正是拉塞尔以及他这一代车手越来越注重选择战斗时机、为车队和谐而进行长线博弈的例子。
拉塞尔本可以尝试坚持到底，赌一把从安东内利身上抢回六分的渺茫机会，但他会权衡出，遵守车队指令、保持梅赛德斯对自己的好感才是更有利的选择。
考虑到这一策略最终算是勉强奏效，他届时将会有足够的头脑冷静，不再就这一策略展开更多公开的讨论——而安东内利（Antonelli）略显奇怪地选择在终点时通过车队电台这么做。
在车内和媒体面前配合车队大局，对他的本赛季争冠并无帮助——但这或许有助于确保他在未来许多个争冠赛季中，继续获得梅赛德斯的帮助以及梅赛德斯的赛车。
英文原文
Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell was surprisingly magnanimous in his post-race assessment after being ordered to let team-mate - and direct title rival - Kimi Antonelli through at the conclusion of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
Antonelli had got ahead of Russell at the (initial) start, but ended up closing down on his team-mate on fresher tyres after Mercedes took the opportunity of a late-race virtual safety car to swap him to softs.
There was a clear pace offset as Antonelli approached Russell (with the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc also closing in after their own VSC pitstops), and so an overtake between the Mercedes drivers looked likely - but not necessarily nailed on.
Russell had initially asked Mercedes for some teamwork - meaning either the use of Antonelli's car as a buffer or trying to deliberately 'feed' him overtake mode once swapping - seemingly aware already of the threat posed by the Ferraris. This was never particularly likely to be ordered, but he did not sound impressed when told to wave Antonelli by at Turn 1.
But while acknowledging post-race that the podium "could have gone either way", Russell surprisingly stuck up for the strategy. "Kimi was ahead of me anyway, so he deserved to finish ahead," he insisted.
"And of course when you're in the race you want to fight for every single position - but with the pace with the new tyre, he would have overtaken anyway. It was the right decision."
In the post-Dutch GP press conference, Russell added that the position swap was written into Mercedes's rulebook.
"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. That's always just been our sort of rules...
"Could I have kept him [Antonelli] 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 and, yeah, it's a long season."
That post-race reaction was in sharp contrast to Russell - perhaps sarcastically - querying "Is he fighting for the win? Or, is he planning to catch Norris?" when Antonelli was ordered ahead, with Norris over 11 seconds clear at that point.
In acquiescing, Russell surrendered two seconds relative to his pace - which should at least raise questions as to whether the swap was executed optimally or whether the optimal point was chosen.
Though he ultimately held onto the podium, a fifth-place finish looked dangerously likely at one point as both Hamilton and Leclerc were beginning to absolutely swarm him - the race being suspended by virtual safety car just as Hamilton lined up a move on the main straight.
The question then is whether the view Russell expressed in the immediate aftermath of the race will be the same as what he says behind closed doors - or whether his real feelings are closer to that initial incandescence in the car.
Ideally he would have surely liked the chance to fend off the fresher-tyred Antonelli - given that he did fight off the Ferraris in the end, and given that Antonelli appeared distinctly uncomfortable pace-wise for the entire second half of the race.
The four-second gap between the two at the finish does not really suggest the pass was an inevitability. But perhaps this is a case of Russell and other drivers of his generation being increasingly mindful of picking their battles and playing the long game in terms of harmony.
Russell could have tried to stick it out for a long-shot six-point swing against Antonelli but will have calculated the more profitable thing is to stay in Mercedes' good graces by following a team order.
He then will have had the presence of mind not to launch into more public deliberations over the strategy - something that Antonelli slightly bizarrely chose to do on team radio at the finish - given it ultimately just about worked out.
Playing the team game in the car and in front of the media won't help him in this year's title race - but it may help him ensure he enjoys Mercedes' help and Mercedes' car in many future title races.
The Race ·
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