Mercedes’ strategy at Suzuka came under scrut🌃iny but they have been reminded that they must face even bigger problems.

Mercedes’ decision to equip Lewis Hamilton ✅and George Russell with hard tyres at the restart after a red flag at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix failed to yield results.

Hamilton finished ninth, Russell seventh, behind a Red Bull 1-2 and both Ferraris among ot✱hersꦍ.

Red Bull and Ferrari opt♕ed for a different strategy to Mercedes.

Ham▨ilton questioned the strategy via team radio during the race before later insisting his team couldn’t have done anything differently.

But Mark♍ Webber has reminded them that tyre stratඣegy is the least of their concerns.

“They rolled the dice,” Webber said to Channel 4 after the Japanese Gജrand Prix.

“They restarted on the h🎐ards. They were looking at ma♔king a one-stop work.

“Failed. Too optimistic.

“Then, track position. They had to come back 𝓀through.

“Then both of them put the mediums on, a🌠t the end. So they converted to a [two-stop] t♌here.

“They tried, and they went all-in with both c🥂ars too, off the line with that hard tyre.

“They h🅰aven’t got the speed at the moment. They just💖 haven’t got the speed.

“You can do whatever strategy you want. But if you haven’t got a quick car? Good l💟uck.”

The W15 gav🎀e Hamilton a rare good feeling at t🔴he start of the weekend in Japan yet Mercedes are still no closer to significantly challenging the Red Bulls.

Hamilton insisted he wouldn’t have fought gained anything with an alternate 🦹tyre strategy.

“Nothing, I don’t think,” he said. “I don’t know what🐭 the different strategy would have been.

“Whether it was the mediums to start with? But we still had two terrible hard tyres to run t𒐪hrough. It was a real challenge.”

Red Bull’s Christian Horner insisted that tyre strategy w🅠as not crucial in Japan.

“I don’t think there was much in it,” he said.

“The track was warmer today, that brought the cars into a different operati💮ng window🃏.

“The circuit just geಌts faster and faster throughou🌼t the race.”