Hamilton's frustration is ignited by Mercedes' orders.

      George was truly an excellent team player.

      Mercedes' team orders during the late Dutch GP initially disappointed George Russell, but he eventually supported the decision after Kimi Antonelli was placed back into P2 behind winner Lando Norris. Antonelli had been ahead of Russell before Mercedes decided to pit the championship leader under a late Virtual Safety Car for new soft tyres, which temporarily pushed him behind his teammate. "Does he even have a chance of winning?" Russell inquired over the radio when the order was given. Afterwards, Russell came to accept the decision. "Kimi was ahead of me anyway, so he deserved to finish ahead," he remarked. "Of course, when you're racing, you want to fight for every position, but based on the pace and the new tyres, he would have passed anyway." "So it’s the right choice. We’ve always stated as a team that when we’re on different strategies, we won’t fight each other and we’ll always invert." Antonelli expressed gratitude toward Russell for handling the situation smoothly. "George was, you know, a great team player," said the teenager, who now leads the championship by 59 points. "I have to thank him because he made my life a lot easier." Toto Wolff explained that the order was mainly aimed at restoring the previous running order before the VSC and protecting Mercedes' constructors’ points, not favoring Antonelli due to his championship position. "We weren’t going to waste time fighting amongst ourselves with two Ferraris right behind us," he stated. "It had nothing to do with who was leading the championship. If roles were reversed, we would have acted precisely the same way. That’s how we function, and both drivers understand it." "We avoid the situations that other teams experience when such matters aren't addressed clearly." Hamilton noted this point, expressing dissatisfaction that Ferrari did not make decisive decisions for their own drivers. "I’m here to win, and it’s tough when you see... when you’re looking ahead and notice the two Mercedes drivers get the call and execute it right away," he said. "They let Kimi pass and allowed him to continue racing, while I was on a different strategy, which wasn’t the same here. My objective is to lead this team to the world championship, and to win, such actions are necessary." The more pressing issue for Mercedes is their overall speed. Antonelli acknowledged after Norris’ victory that McLaren has now clearly moved ahead. "We’re clearly not the fastest car on the grid anymore," the Italian noted. "We’re likely second or third, at least in today’s race, and McLaren has made significant progress, particularly since Hungary, following their substantial upgrade package." Wolff indicated that Mercedes cannot instantly react every time a competitor rolls out updates. "We don’t possess the budget to continually add updates to the car as needed," the team principal explained. "When an update is introduced, each of the leading teams can gain at least a couple of tenths. That's how much you lose. So, indeed, the road has been somewhat more challenging than earlier in the year."