Right at the home of last season’s great opponent, Max Verstappen, there Mercedes he rediscovered that he had what it takes to win again in Formula 1. Sunday’s Dutch GP, in fact, probably represented the best performance of the season for the Brackley team, rewarded by George Russell’s excellent second place. However, those who had really smelled for several laps the incredible possibility of leaving Zanvoort with the winner’s cup in their suitcase was Lewis Hamilton. Thanks to the clever plan to make a single stop in the race, in fact, the team led by Toto Wolff had put the seven-time world champion in the position of being able to try to duel in the final race with Verstappen.
The entry on the track of the Virtual Safety Car to resolve the grotesque chaos caused by Yuki Tsunoda broke this hope, which however was partially rekindled by the subsequent entry of the real Safety Car, called to the track after the retirement of Valtteri Bottas. The entry into the pits of Red Bull # 1 gave the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell the leadership of the race, with the local idol relegated to third place but equipped with new soft tires, against the used averages of the two silver arrows . At this point the strategists of the black-silver wall have chosen to playing a gamble that did not pay off. In fact, Mercedes took advantage of the forced passage of the single-seaters in the pit lane to stop Russell, also fitting him with soft tires.
This has kept Hamilton in command, but has deprived him of the ‘cover’ of the boxmate, slipped into third place behind Verstappen. Exactly like in Abu Dhabi in 2021, therefore, the Stevenage champion found himself hunted by his orange rival, benefiting from fresher and softer tires. The strategic choice of the team, however, infuriated the # 44 who, still while the cars were passing through the pit lane, noticed the stop of his teammate, expressing his disappointment to the team. Disappointment that soon turned into anger in the following laps, after the overtaking in series collected by Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc. It should be emphasized that Hamilton did not actually intend to stop to mount soft tires, but wanted to ‘guarantee’ the defense provided by the sister car.
Lap 57/72
Hamilton: “Why did you stop George?”.
Bonnington: “Um… I don’t know, I’ll let you know”.
Hamilton: “Yes, it was a mistake, man.”
Hamilton: “The position on the track counts. So we had a buffer between us [lui e Verstappen]now we don’t have it anymore ”.
Bonnington; “Received Lewis”.
Lap 59/72
Hamilton: “It will be difficult to keep those cars behind.”
Bonnington: “Yes received Lewis, but we give it all”.
Lap 63/72
Hamilton: “I don’t believe you guys you fuck me like this. You can’t understand how Inca **** I am right now ”.
Bonnington: “Got Lewis, we’ll talk about it later. DRS activated “.
#Mercedes #strategies #Hamiltons #radio #doubts #stop #George #FormulaPassion.it