F1 News
Van der Garde believes Mercedes can win: 'They have a shot at those tracks'
- GPblog.com
Could Mercedes have won the Dutch Grand Prix if Lewis Hamilton had pitted for new tyres? Or would the one-stop have been successful if there had been no safety car? These are questions that occupy the paddock after the race. Giedo van der Garde believes Mercedes will get their chance this season.
Mercedes chose not to bring Hamilton in during the safety car period in the closing stages of the race, while Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell all came in for a new set of tyres. In the end, the Briton was overtaken by all three drivers and finished just off the podium. Hamilton was frustrated, but the question remains whether an extra pit stop would have given him a chance of victory.
"If you put Lewis on the softs, it would have been hard to win it, but for sure, you would have finished second", Van der Garde says on Sky Sports' Any Driven Monday Sky Sports. Verstappen's pace was just too fast.
Can Mercedes still win this season?
The team of the seven-time world champion has already improved a lot compared to the start of the season. At the moment, Mercedes are performing particularly well on circuits with a lot of corners, notes Van der Garde.
"I think at tracks like Singapore they have a shot. I think in Monza next week they will struggle, because they are not so fast on the straight. The drag efficiency of that car is not so good. Japan can be good, Singapore is a race Lewis likes. That is also a track with a lot of downforce, and it seems the Mercedes is getting better and better", says the former Formula One driver.