Windsor questions Hamilton's actions: "That was chillingly dangerous"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it was widely assumed that Mercedes would dominate. However, on Saturday Red Bull Racing proved to be in a much better position than expected, while Lewis Hamilton in particular struggled to get going. He managed to hold onto pole after a crash by Max Verstappen, but according to Peter Windsor the pressure was also evident for the polesitter.
"There was a lot of tension and pressure around Lewis at the start of Q3, because in FP3 he set his best time on the hard tyre. Everyone else was fast on the soft tyre, but Lewis was actually slower," Windsor said in his YouTube analysis. "So the big question was whether he could be fast enough on the soft tyre in qualifying."
Hamilton under pressure
He continued: "On top of that, he was also involved in two incidents that were under investigation. The yellow flag incident was quickly brushed aside, but question marks remain around the obstruction of Nikita Mazepin. To me, that was chillingly dangerous."
"Mazepin, to his credit, managed to avoid Lewis in a brilliant reflex in that blind corner. Otherwise it would have been a massive shunt. Lewis had to take that into qualifying, which of course is not great," Windsor said.
Difficulty for Hamilton to warm up tyres
Hamilton then needed two sets of soft tyres to set a time in Q1, where he failed to move beyond ninth place. "That was obviously a concern for everyone around him, because how would they handle that in Q3?" said Windsor, noting that the Mercedes driver needed a lot of time to get the tires up to temperature.
"In Q2, Lewis stayed out on the medium tire for a long time, setting slower and faster laps. In his eighth lap, he set a lap that was fast enough for pole," he concluded.