F1 News
Mercedes know they shouldn't have risked Hamilton's extra pit-stop in Brazil
- Tom Mason
Mercedes have admitted that they regret the decision to risk another pit stop for Lewis Hamilton at the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend. The safety car was brought on after the Ferrari's clashes and the Brit was offered the opportunity to pit, with the team only expecting to lose one place.
“From the moment that we made the call, it was a heart-sink moment after he emerged from the box behind Gasly,” Mercedes technical director James Allison told Motorsport.com.
“When we decided to call Lewis in on that final Safety Car, we had seen that the Ferraris had collided,” he said in a video published by Mercedes. “One of them was off at turn four and reasonably clear of the track.
“Vettel was making his way around with a puncture, that was dropping a bit of debris, but we thought he would get back to the pits. At the point the Safety Car was called, Lewis was at turn 12, so there wasn’t long for us to discuss this decision."
Hamilton ended up finishing in fourth place, behind Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz.