Mercedes reveal Hamilton proposal over Monaco front wing

Mercedes has revealed Lewis Hamilton specifically suggested that team-mate George Russell should run the upgraded front wing at last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

The Brackley-based squad arrived at the event with an upgrade, however it had only one unit between both of its drivers.

Mercedes has slipped back in the F1 pecking order in recent seasons and is continuing to work to improve its on-track potential. 

Having traditionally opted to wait until it had at least three units of any upgraded component, Mercedes decided to go a different route last weekend.

“We are looking to have race quantities of that wing in Montreal and normally you would say race quantities is at least three because you have got one for each car and then you have got a spare available should anything happen,” said trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. 

“We do not make three in one go. We make the first, then the second, then the third. An upshot of that was that we had one that we could bring to Monaco and have it ready for Friday to do the weekend.

“A while ago, the drivers asked why we always wait until we have got a full set? Why not just let one of us run it? 

“We agreed with them that given the situation with the team in terms of performance, we need to improve, and we need to learn. It is quite good to have different specs on the car to do that.”

Hamilton's call

However, a decision had to be made over which driver would receive the upgraded part.

A common route that many teams go regarding upgrades is fitting the new part to the driver that is ahead in the championship.

With a call looming, Shovlin stated that Hamilton opted to make the decision himself.

“We did agree with the drivers that where we are now, we will be happy to bring one to the track and they were both happy with that.

“The difficult question was how do we decide who was going to run it? 

“But Lewis said, if we are going to start doing this where we have not got enough parts, let George run it in Monaco, there will be races in the future where we have a single update and of course we just alternate from here on in. 

“But Lewis made that decision quite simple for us.”