One of the main turning points of the Turkish GP turned out to be the strategy of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. On a track that was drying very slowly and with the intermediate tires so worn that they became real slicks, the British driver tried to play a ‘wild card’ by trying to cover the entire race without ever stopping in the pits. A move also attempted by Ferrari with Charles Leclerc and fully implemented by Alpine with Esteban Ocon. Hamilton, like Leclerc, instead had to ‘surrender’ to the need for a stop in the last part of the race.
In the post GP there was no shortage of question and answer via the press between the English world champion and his team. A divergence of views that ‘forced’ Hamilton himself to publish a message on Instagram in which he denied being “furious“With the team and reiterated that”you win and lose as a team“. Toto Wolff And Andrew Shovlin they clearly highlighted that Hamilton’s plan to get to the checkered flag without changing tires was counterproductive. Analyzing the radio message exchanged between the seven-time world champion and the black-silver wall, it emerges that Mercedes actually had a decidedly more ‘conservative’ strategy ready, which, however, would perhaps have proved more effective than the one actually implemented.
Realizing the problematic nature of waiting for the track to be suitable for slick tires, in fact, the Mercedes garage had already recalled Hamilton on lap 41. Just five laps after Verstappen’s stop and six laps earlier than when Leclerc later stopped. However, it was # 44 himself who convinced the team to wait a little longer. With hindsight, by stopping immediately, Hamilton would have probably saved at least the position on Leclerc.
Lap 41
Bonnington: “Leclerc runs in 34.6. Valtteri 34.0 “.
Bonnington: “Box, box. Box, box “.
Hamilton: “Because?”.
Bonnington: “The right way is to put in a new intermediary. We are at risk with Gasly ”.
Hamilton: “I don’t think so, man.”
Lap 42
Hamilton: “Is it much faster?”
Bonnington: “We have Ricciardo in 33.5. We also have Gasly entering our window at 33 and a half ”.
Hamilton: “Seems to me we should stay out, man.”
Bonnington: “Ok, we’ll be out for another lap. Give us a little more time to think ”.
Lap 43
Hamilton: “Soon it dries up.”
Bonnington: “Ok received Lewis, we are not reacting yet. Just keep in mind that Gasly is five seconds outside our pit window.
Hamilton: “We’re just going to waste a lot of time [effettuando la sosta]”.
Bonnington: “Received. We stay out, we stay out. So Perez 15 seconds behind, laps in 34.8, so no threat at the moment ”.
Hamilton: “Ok. The grip is certainly not great, but it is drying up ”.
At Giro 50 the Mercedes wall decides to impose itself on its driver, realizing that otherwise the positions lost by Hamilton could have increased further.
Bonnington: “Lewis we are monitoring the gaps, we have Gasly doing 33.6, we are still sure for three seconds on him”.
Bonnington: “Lewis, we believe we have to pit this lap, this will be our last chance before we lose the margin on Gasly. We have eight laps to do ”.
Hamilton: “Are you sure? Ok “.