F1 News
Mercedes can not always chase Red Bull: 'Then our car is not so quick'
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton started the race last Sunday from first place on the red, soft tire. This is a result of his qualification for the race. Once on the road, the six-time champion was penalized twice because of the wrong test starts, eventually finishing third behind Verstappen. But in any case the strategy options for Hamilton were very limited, Andrew Shovlin explains in the Mercedes Debrief on YouTube.
Limited strategy possibilities
In a new video Shovlin goes deeper into various questions from fans and in it the strategy issue of Hamilton comes to the fore. Shovlin: "The strategy options for Lewis were actually quite limited, but it was not as much how the penalty effected the strategy itself. It was just starting on the soft tire, it means you have to come in earlier. Therefore you need to do a long stint on the hard tire."
"He did a good job of managing it into the end of the race. You have to do a bit of management otherwise you would’ve rund out of rubber." It's a logical story so far, but what was striking was that he barely managed to narrow the gap to Verstappen. On the one hand because of the long stint, but Shovlin also points out that the Mercedes isn't so superior that they can close all the holes.
"But in reality, our car is isn’t so quick against the Red Bull that we can expect to chase them down when we’re on older rubber and try to make an overtake." And that's where the real competition comes in, because that's when it comes primarily to tire management skills. Because no matter how good the car is, if the tires go on prematurely, it doesn't make much sense.
Finally, Shovlin says: "So unfortunatly the issues with starting on the soft but certainly coupled with that penalty ment that third place was the best Lewis could achieve that day."