"Lewis Hamilton suggested it": Mercedes social media admin's reply to a fan goes viral

Mercedes F1 team's social media admin gave a sarcastic response to a fan who claimed that they hated the teams' decision to swap Lewis Hamilton and George Russell during the Japanese GP.

It was yet another tough weekend for the German team as they finished P7 and P9 in the main race, the same positions they started, albeit with the drivers finishing in reverse.

The former world champions went bold at the restart in the opening phases of the race as they fitted in the Hard tires to attempt a one-stop. However, the high degradation and hot temperatures meant that Mercedes had to quickly think of another option.

They decided to swap their drivers, with Lewis Hamilton letting George Russell pass, as the latter was slightly faster.

The decision did not sit well with the fans, and one of them claimed that they hated the teams' decision-making. But the Mercedes team admin on the social media platform, X, gave a sarcastic reply to the fan.

The tweet, which now has over 670k impressions, read:

"Lewis suggested it."

Hamilton, in his post-race interview with F1.com, talked about the reason behind him letting George Russell pass him:

“I got some damage I think in the first stint at the restart with Charles [Leclerc] and I had massive understeer, like huge, huge understeer. So that’s why I decided to let George by, because he seemed quicker and I just couldn’t turn the car."

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Lewis Hamilton analyzes his P9 finish at the Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton also stated that it was a 'difficult' day for him as he struggled with understeer in the first stint of the race, which only got better after he changed tires during the pit stops.

As per F1.com, the seven-time world champion said:

"It was a difficult day today. I did my best, but the result wasn’t a good one. Unfortunately, that is where our car is at the moment. I didn’t feel great on the Hard tire and picked up a little bit of damage on the restart.

"The final stint was the first time in the race that I felt like I had good grip. We need to keep working hard as today, our pace was likely only good enough for P6. If we want to move up the grid, then we will need to add more performance to the car."

The British driver would be hoping that they improve their level of performance in Shanghai, as they have previously won multiple races in China in the 2010s. He now sits ninth in the drivers' standings — two positions and 14 points behind his teammate.