Toto Wolff has explained Mercedes decision to impose team orders on George Russell in the Dutch Grand Prix in favour of Kimi Antonelli as "completely normal."
Late on at Zandvoort, Antonelli pitted under the VSC for Esteban Ocon's stricken Haas, falling behind Russell on the road, with the duo running with Russell in second and Antonelli in third.
This finishing order would have seen Russell cut the points deficit to Antonelli to 53, but the Briton followed the request to let Antonelli back through into the second place he was already holding, with Russell then able to hold off the charging Lewis Hamilton to maintain third place.
It was an effective six-point swing in Antonelli's favour, with the gap between the two drivers now standing at 59, exactly where it was prior to the weekend, with Antonelli erasing the three points Russell had clawed back in the Sprint.
Russell has moved into second in the championship, level with Hamilton, but ahead on countback with two wins to one, with Wolff explaining that if the roles had been reversed, Russell would have been given the team orders benefit.
"Obviously, team orders are always harsh," Wolff began to tell media, including RacingNews365.
"From one driver’s perspective, you can’t expect a lion in the car and then a walkover at the same time, but it’s what we always discuss.
"It was something we agree always on at the Sunday morning strategy meeting: We’re not losing time with each other if there’s competitors breathing down your neck.
"We’ve seen it with the Ferraris at the beginning of the year, I think in Shanghai. You lose so much race time, we risk losing more points, and that’s why we are trying to be proactive and avoid losing any points.
"And it was a very difficult call because Kimi was running second, clear of George, and that’s basically the order we restored after the stop.
"So [it was] completely normal, and we would have done it the other way around also."
Toto Wolff offers 'completely' normal defence to Antonell-Russell team orders
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