The reason for such a discussion is that in the driver standings, the points gap between Perez and Hamilton is only 23 points.
If Hamilton finishes second in today's race, the gap between Hamilton and Perez will shrink to 18 points. Next race weekend, Hamilton has a high probability of making a comeback to elevate his ranking to 4th in the standings.
Swapping positions would not have any actual impact for Qin Miao and the Mercedes team.
After all, Qin Miao only needs to finish in the top 5 to secure the 2022 world champion title, and for the team standings, Mercedes's score in this weekend's event won't change regardless of the two Mercedes drivers swapping places.
But this would be a win-win for Hamilton and the Mercedes team, and it wouldn't compromise Qin Miao, posing essentially no impact; however, Hamilton refused.
