Lewis Hamilton hung to dry? Mercedes boss hints at favouring George Russell

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hinted that the team chose to sacrifice Lewis Hamilton while giving George Russell the preferred strategy in the final laps of the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday. The seven-time world champion dropped from first to fourth after struggling on a used set of medium tyres, while the cars around were on new softs.

It was a sense of déjà vu back to Abu Dhabi last season, after Mercedes chose to protect track position rather than give Hamilton a fresh set of tyres. With 10 laps to go, Max Verstappen stopped for a fresh set of softs under the safety car, and wasted no time getting past the leading Mercedes at the restart.

Hamilton struggled for grip on his used tyres, and was soon passed by Russell and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, as both drivers opted for new tyres under the safety car. The 37-year-old was seething at his team for not giving him a set of new softs to defend his position as he saw an easy podium finish slip from his grasp.

After the race, Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, indicated that the team made the choice to take a risk with Hamilton in order to keep him at the front. The Austrian even went on to hint that the British F1 stalwart was sacrificed, as Russell was given the favoured strategy owing to him being in second place at the time.

"He had a tyre that was five laps old, the medium, holding position was the right thing to do. At the end it didn't work out for him but I'd rather take the risk to win the race with Lewis rather than finish second and third," Wolff said, as quoted on Motorsport.com.

"Lewis was ahead, so you always have a little bit longer with the call [for those behind]. You can do two things; you can either pit Lewis and lose track position against Verstappen and leave George out - screwed, or you can pit both - screwed. So it was worth taking the risk."

Hamilton was fortunate to finish fourth as Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in fifth struggled with degradation despite being on the soft compound tyres. The Briton continues to search for his first race win of the season as he endures his longest drought since making his debut in 2007.