Mercedes duo battled for position in Mexico

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell went wheel-to-wheel at the F1 Mexico City Grand Prix but it passed without incident.

Mercedes bosses might have breathed a sigh of relief to see their two drivers fairly battle for position.

But it is partly due to the ethos which Mercedes demands of its drivers on-track, which Hamilton described.

Toto Wolff said: “They’re so good and so experienced that we allow the racing.

“At the beginning, I have no doubt, there was not a feeling where I thought, it’s getting a bit hairy.

“I think we made the call to George at the end where it was clear that Lewis had the faster car, that maybe that one defense on the straight was a bit of a late move.

“I don’t have any doubts about the two.”

Hamilton said in Mexico: “It’s pretty straightforward.

“I don’t think either of us are silly.

“George is really smart, and is fair. And he’s just really good at where he places his car, and I think for me too.

“So when [the team] comes on the radio and says ‘keep it clean’, it’s like, ‘of course’.

“It’s not really different to when you’re fighting anyone else, except for it is your teammate. So you have to be double careful because you both want to finish.”

Russell said: “It was nice to have the battle and it’s always good when you fight with Lewis because it’s hard and fair.”

Hamilton initially got ahead of Russell at the Mexico City Grand Prix, but his teammate later overtook him.

Hamilton then got the better of Russell in the latter stages of the race, to finish fourth. Russell was fifth.

Hamilton blamed understeer for his bad first stint. Russell, meanwhile, had damage to his front wing and was already running an older spec of the W15 after a crash in practice.

But their teammate v teammate scrap was an example to other teams of how to go racing, particularly with Hamilton’s days at Mercedes drawing to a close.