Red Bull feared Hamilton could switch to slicks in last laps
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- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko saw Max Verstappen score eight points more than Lewis Hamilton in the world championship and for that he thanks the rain of Sunday morning. On a dry track Hamilton would probably have finished above Max Verstappen in the Turkish Grand Prix. Marko also claims that Red Bull Racing were lucky that the tarmac at Istanbul Park didn't dry out during the race.
""In the dry, we would have had no chance. We have to acknowledge that," Marko was honest in conversation with Sky. Max Verstappen was the first driver up front to go in for new intermediates. He came out right in front of teammate Sergio Perez and Hamilton.
Hamilton was feared
Not much later Perez also made a pit stop and suddenly it was the Mercedes driver who looked to be on the podium. This made Red Bull nervous, according to Marko: " With Hamilton, we were a bit afraid that he would be completely out. But the way his tyres looked, the risk of a puncture was immense. And thank God it wasn't that dry for slicks."
The moment the tarmac had suddenly become dry enough for dry weather tyres in the last ten laps, Hamilton would have had an immense advantage and would have driven to victory in no time. On slicks a lap can be five seconds faster than on intermediates. The seven times world champion admitted he was aiming for that, but it didn't work out that way for the Red Bull camp.
Perez holds off Lewis
At one point Hamilton had caught up with Perez in the Turkish GP, but the Mexican eventually emerged victorious in a spirited duel. "Lewis wanted to push him into the pit lane, but Checo held on. He defended superbly and that ultimately proved decisive in capturing his third place," Marko concludes.