Throughout his career Jenson Button he has always stood out for his ability to triumph in chaotic races, often conditioned by bad weather or variable weather conditions. The same terrain on which the riders challenged each other at Istanbul Park, on the occasion of the Turkish GP last Sunday. In those particularly difficult circumstances Lewis Hamilton, Button’s former teammate at McLaren and another champion renowned for his driving prowess in wet track conditions, had a long discussion with his garage during and after the race. The seven-time world champion in fact wanted to finish the race without stopping, bringing the intermediate tires with which he had started to the finish line. Mercedes instead ‘forced’ him to stop, believing that the strategy suggested by Hamilton would be counterproductive.
Most insiders supported Mercedes’ thesis, but Button – speaking to Sky Sports F1 – instead suggested that Hamilton’s plan could have been successful. “He looked like he was going to make it. The car has a lot of downforce and he was looking after the tires better than anyone else”The thought of Button. “They argued about when to stop and then he stopped just when he shouldn’t have stopped. – added the former BrawnGP standard bearer – if he had stopped earlier, it would have been a good call. If it didn’t stop at all and the tires lasted to the end, it would have been a good call. But it was right in the middle and that’s the area you don’t want to be in“.
To really anger Hamilton, however, according to Button, it would have been a ‘misunderstanding on a communicative level. “I don’t think Lewis realized he was going to lose two positions with the pit stop. He seemed happy enough when they told him to come back. It didn’t seem like he knew he was going to lose a couple of positions. After that he became quite frustrated, knowing he was back in fifth position, behind two cars he didn’t think he was ahead of “, concluded the English.