Lewis Hamilton has indicated Mercedes could be prepared to make a significant change for the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton has indicated Mercedes are preparing to give his upgraded car to George Russell for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos this weekend.

The Silver Arrows announced the 39-year-old would get the first chance to run the new parts on his W15 car instead of Russell. That was viewed as a surprise call inside the paddock, with Hamilton leaving for Ferrari in 2025 while Russell will lead the team as their No 1 driver next year.

However, Russell crashed in qualifying at the last United States Grand Prix and his shunt caused damage to the new W15 parts he had fitted. As a result, Mercedes were forced to send the upgrades back to the Brackley factory to repair them and had only one other spare set to fit.

And with only one set of parts available, Russell remained on the same package that was brought to Silverstone earlier this season.

They opted to not to fit the repaired parts for the Mexican GP, while Hamilton enjoyed the new specification as he claimed fourth place ahead of his team-mate.

But Mercedes chief Toto Wolff hinted Hamilton felt more comfortable using the previous setup, which could see them swap heading to Brazil for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend – something Hamilton expected after their enticing battle in Mexico City.

“It was always going to happen at some point, I think he had a problem with his wing, but we got a lot of information,” Hamilton said.

“I could see where he [Russell] was better than me, and package-wise, hopefully, the team has lots of data, so we will figure out who starts on what next week.”

Hamilton goes into the weekend in sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship with 189 points, putting him 12 ahead of Russell with four races remaining. With nothing else to play for, things could get feisty between them in the remaining weeks of the season.

While there may be some concerns of causing damage to each other in Brazil, Hamilton insisted he is not worried after the pair jostled for position fairly when they were allowed to race by Mercedes.

“I don’t think either of us is silly. George is pretty smart, so it was fair and he is pretty good at where he places his car, and me as well. So when they came onto the radio to say keep it clean, it was like, ‘Of course’,” Hamilton said.

“It makes no real difference when you’re fighting anyone else, except as it is your team-mate, you need to be double-careful.”