Sport
Hamilton’s stop at COTA was his ‘main opportunity’
Mercedes believes that stopping for hard tyres on lap eight of the United States Grand Prix could have been a winning strategy for Lewis Hamilton.
For most of the final 20 laps in Austin, it appeared as if Hamilton’s two pit stops were perfectly timed to allow him to pass Max Verstappen for the victory.
The World Champion, who started from P2 on the grid, stopped on laps 14 and 37, but was passed by Verstappen on the first occasion, who had new tyres installed on laps 11 and 29.
The Dutchman had to complete 27 laps on his second set of hard rubber and was vulnerable to Hamilton’s pursuit, but the Red Bull driver held on to win by 1.333 seconds.
When Mercedes releases their regular race debrief this week, they are expected to proclaim publicly what they have retrospectively determined to be the best strategy.
However, their trackside technical director Andrew Shovlin has claimed that an even less daring strategy than Red Bull’s may have succeeded for Hamilton.
“Had a crystal ball perhaps and realized the hard tyre would have been a better tyre for us!” Shovlin, as quoted by Motorsport.com, stated when asked what Mercedes should have done differently.
“Realistically, the options to win the race probably boil down to retaining the lead after the very good start Lewis made by stopping early, maybe pitting as early as lap eight.
“But given we were struggling on the medium tyres in such a short stint, we would have never been brave enough just to hold the lead. It would have felt like we would compromise the whole race.
“But as it happens, I think we could have gone for an early stop and could have made the finish. It would have been a case of pulling the trigger earlier and then hoping for the best, seeing if Lewis could keep Max at bay. But really that was the main opportunity.”
The uniforms of Formula One racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price:
