Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin has revealed that Lewis Hamilton was the one that decided George Russell would receive the front wing upgrade for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton has been outshone in qualifying by Russell this season with the seven-time world champion beating his team-mate just once through eight races over one lap.
The 39-year-old was once again lagging behind Russell in Monaco qualifying as he ended up a tenth slower in Q3.
Speaking after the session, Hamilton appeared paranoid about any possibility of beating Russell in qualifying for the rest of the season.
Lewis Hamilton appeared frustrated at being behind George Russell in qualifying again
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The seven-time world champion pointed out that Russell was the only Mercedes car to be given the new upgrade for the weekend.
However, Mercedes trackside engineering director Shovlin has claimed it was Hamilton who ultimately made the call for Russell to get the upgrade first after a discussion about new parts being used quicker.
“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,” Shovlin said.
“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.
George Russell was given the new upgrade in Monaco
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“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.”
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Lewis Hamilton has only beaten George Russell in qualifying once this season
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The Monaco Grand Prix isn't usually a track where teams bring upgrades due to the low-speed nature of the circuit and difficulty to see the true effects of the new part.
Shovlin expects to see more in-depth data at the Canadian Open, where Hamilton will also be given the front wing as well.
“We are happy with what we have seen to date, but we will learn more in Montreal and then particularly when you get to a track like Barcelona with a wider corner speed range, you can really start to learn about it there," he said.
