Hamilton could've made the right choice: 'Especially given his experience'
Mercedes looked to have a real chance at victory at the Dutch Grand Prix for the first time this season, but a late safety car forced the team to change strategy. Jolyon Palmer analyses the race of the Mercedes drivers.
During qualifying, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton looked fast, but a crash by Sergio Perez in the closing stages of Q3 meant the drivers had to take their foot off the gas due to the yellow flag. According to team principal Toto Wolff, Hamilton was competing for pole position before having to slow down. "Looking at the data, that statement is not untrue – Hamilton was a fraction up on Verstappen’s pole time at the point he backed off," Palmer writes in his column for Formula1.com.
Yet Hamilton would have lost a lot of time towards the finish. The Mercedes car loses a lot of time on the straight compared to the top speed of the Red Bull. Palmer reckons the seven-time world champion could have finished a close fourth if Sergio Perez had not hit the wall.
'Hamilton could have made that decision too'
During the race, Hamilton ultimately made the wrong decision by not coming in for a new set of tyres during the safety car period. The Briton was overtaken by three drivers and dropped from the lead to P4. Teammate Russell chose the right strategy and finished on the podium.
"In hindsight it was a brilliant call from Russell and one Hamilton could have made as well, especially given the difference in seniority and experience between the two," Palmer says. Nevertheless, the former F1 driver understands Mercedes' choice. Track position is very important at Zandvoort. Russell had nothing to lose by pitting, while Hamilton's choice was a lot harder because of the chance of victory.
Michael Schumacher could drive and win with cars that had problems and never complained, unlike the golden boy ...
Hahaha what should have happened is that lewis should have been told that George was coming in for softs. Not because he is the goat, which he is, but because he was the lead driver. Then if he decided to stay out then he can have no complaints. If Merc were going for the win they should have kept both drivers out. In hindsight the best thing they could have done is pit both and got a 2/3. This nonsense that Merc should now focus on GR is absolute nonsense. Gr was behind SLH in driving ability all weekend. GR has never done anything of note in F1 yet but I'm sure he will. The talent of GR is there for all to see but he's still not at SLHs level yet. Merc have the best driver combination on the grid and can't wait till they pull their finger out and give them two fantastic drivers a car to match their ability!!
Russell is not just faster than Lewis, he is also better at race awareness and craft. Given Lewis' experience, he has only himself to blame!!! "In hindsight it was a brilliant call from Russell and one Hamilton could have made as well, especially given the difference in seniority and experience between the two," Palmer says.
Lewis never had the sharpness of Senna or Schumacher in wheel to wheel racing. Never. Not with Rosberg, not ever. Also, Lewis' 1 lap pace was never that stunning or exceptional. He was hailed for years with consecutive championships, but I never thought he was sensational in the way of Senna, Schumacher, Hakkinen, or even Max Lewis rode with a 50 h.p. advantage for quite a few years. More car than driver, and for that he simply is not the GOAT. No question whatsoever. He simply is NOT sharp enough!
Agree. Never felt a thrill watching Lewis race, as there was with Senna, Schumacher and even Max. The magic is missing.
Ok but I'm sure any driver wud prefer race pace than 1 lap pace. Look at ferarri at the beginning of the season, destroyed quali only to be dominated on race pace by RB. Right now Max car is superior than the others so what? More car than driver also, but at the same time obviously the driver plays a big part so i disagree with you. Bottas and checo never got near Lewis and Max respectively so the driver must play a big part
Strange that when there's a track with lots of corners and driver's skill come into play rather than sheer top speed, Hamilton is always in the fight for pole or front row, then on tracks that require 70-80% top speed only then we see certain other drivers in the top like one of the Red Bull drivers. Shows the skills of this living legend #44. Slowly waiting for the hate and abuse
Has to do more with the W13's aerodynamics rather than top speed or driver's skills. With its stiff suspension, they need to raise car height on bumpy tracks like SPA and Baku, which means they compromise downforce. It will work well on smooth tracks and high downforce circuits like Zandvoort. Russell gets extra results by taking the initiative like in Zandvoort, where he otherwise would have ended up behind Lewis.
I'm very amazed by Mercedes... They did exactly the same mistake as in Abu Dhabi last year. They left HAM out again. They wanted to keep track position again. And HAM got overtaken by VER in the very first lap again. I just can't understand how such a big team keeps repeating the same mistakes again. Amazing. I'm speechless ?
To Mercedes, it wasn't a mistake. They wanted to leave both drivers out on the same tyres. George saw his opportunity and asked to be changed to softs. Lewis got pissed with that, as Russell took his P2. Lewis could have asked for it, but he either trusted the team to do their best or didn't think of it and ultimately got screwed over to P4.
It toto he dont no what he doing he like oh fluffed it oh we blame vsc .oh hang on it was sc .no ot was toto and lewis flufed up lewis in wrong mode max pass lewis waved at lewis .then lewis see russell come up lewis grrr im going take my team mate out .and in one paper lewis wants russell fired and bring bk vb as his team mate,.lewis how sad are,you
It doesn't change the fact that being last out on track was a bad idea. Firstly,there were quite a few drivers having issues during practice.... 2ndly....had Mick in Q3 that has been a magnet for yellow and reds in qauli.... Lastly,this season the rules surrounding yellow flags means the whole sector is null and void..... It was risky,it was stupid.....if you have the speed you don't leave up to chance.....
Mercedes needed to be last out to make the best of track evolution. It was a conscious decision, and yes, it risks yellow flags and incidents.
Everyone knows that,but track would already have evolved from their first runs and they should have set faster times on their second runs. When you have a season like Merc is having,you have to grab the opportunity,this was a mistake and cost them a potential front row start. RB,didn't take the risk and it paid off.
Yes, it wouldn't be the first mistake Mercedes has made this season!
With Lewis change to soft and leaving George on Mediums, Mercedes still would have track position.
"Looking at the data, that statement is not untrue – Hamilton was a fraction up on Verstappen’s pole time at the point he backed off", So we now know the Pérez spin was needed, and the Yuki VSC was also needed. I can't wait for this weekend, let's see what other stunts unfold .
Lewis was not up on max time for pole and vsc did not mess the race up .the sc lewis fluffed up like last year race merc wanted track posinon on old tyere pluse merc take longer to warm tyers up .and on restart lewis had car in wrong mode so lewis fluffed up no one els at end day . Its called racing if merc dont like then leave the sport
MB 1.8 seconds gap to the front That's what's going to happen this weekend.
I've again reported you for provocative comments my good friend and bosom pal
All of that and you still read over (ignore) the fact that he said he would not get pole because they are too slow on the straights. Figures, only read what you want to read, ignore the rest. Next to the fact that Perez did nit even know Verstappen had pole as that happened literally seconds before (but lets ignore that too) and Perez/RB own ambition to qualify well (also ignore). Much easier to be as clueless and ignorant as 44-7x, Vegan, Shaka and all the other conspiracy theorist around here as to not to acknowledge they got their ass handed to them, again....
They will believe in conspiracy but they ignore the fact that Lewis: 1. Had the wrong tire choice 2. Restarted too soon giving a tow 3. Used the incorrect engine mode 4. Opened the gap for Max 5. Brake tested his team mate And all that as evidence on international broadcasting and they don't believe it. Yet they believe in something which cannot be proven.
"The Mercedes car loses a lot of time on the straight compared to the top speed of the Red Bull. Palmer reckons the seven-time world champion could have finished a close fourth if Sergio Perez had not hit the wall." Did you miss that part?
No, just chose to ignore it ;-) Which is what they usually do
Again difficult with reading? "Yet Hamilton would have lost a lot of time towards the finish. The Mercedes car loses a lot of time on the straight compared to the top speed of the Red Bull. Palmer reckons the seven-time world champion could have finished a close fourth if Sergio Perez had not hit the wall." So Lewis was fourth and he would have stayed fourth. So your insinuations are again nonsense.
Well the truth is we won't know, as Pérez did stop qualifying with his convenient spin, now won't we .
Well, he was down 0.134 second. And best sector 3 times showed that Max was Edit: Best sector 3 times showed that Max was +/-0.150 second faster. So Lewis needed to improve his 3 sector time with a minimum of 0.280 second, while it contains a large straight line. That is not realistic. And until now Mercedes didn't show on any track they were capable of that. What Perez did, was ruining his own qualification. That is a fact.
@VeganWarrior +3719707-09-2022 17:18 No it is an bullsh!t claim, because it is an motor race, not a simulation, not a data-comparison just a simple race. Who who gets over the finish line first wins. (unless penalty, disqualification etc.)
@VeganWarrior "Yet Hamilton would have lost a lot of time towards the finish. The Mercedes car loses a lot of time on the straight compared to the top speed of the Red Bull. Palmer reckons the seven-time world champion could have finished a close fourth if Sergio Perez had not hit the wall." Perhaps you did not read the quoted portion of the article or, as it has been in the past a portion of an article does not suit your narrative so you can post a comment that is not based on the entire article.
Vegan you are like the British media. Trying hard to stuff Lewis down our throats and hail him as the GOAT, but all of us on here watch F1, and all of us know the truth. Also all of us read the article, so to only quote a small piece and then to use it out of context to fit your narrative will not work.
There's only 2 drivers that have 7 world championships. There's only one driver that has been so successful in F1 in its history. I dont have to defend or champion a great driver, the record nooks do that for me . You can deny facts , thats rather bizarre thou. But the measure of sports success works in one way , points, wins , championships. And you may have your opinion on your preferred driver, but the facts determine the great drivers in F1 . The article is pretty clear and the data confirms we would see a Hamilton in the front row but with Pérez spinning we wouldn't know will we .
Yet Hamilton would have lost a lot of time towards the finish. The Mercedes car loses a lot of time on the straight compared to the top speed of the Red Bull. Palmer reckons the seven-time world champion could have finished a close fourth if Sergio Perez had not hit the wall. Maybe get someone to read this bit for you, and then have them explain it to you. Maybe with some pictures, because you don't seem to understand the words.
Only in your twisted own reality, Lewis was behind Max' time and would have never been faster in the last sector.
Thats just it we wouldn't know ,thats the point right. Up until that point Lewis was on track to pip Max and thats when the spin happened.
I have noted you have been copying and pasting this very comment on different articles, either you lack capacity to formulate new posts. Or you aim to provoke. Either way please stop or myself or another user might report you posts.
All of the could haves, should have been, if only's that go into protecting Lewis and Mercedes only make them look more pathetic. What really happened is the reality and that is what people need to focus on. Excuses are endless for Lewis. Reality - George is ahead by a significant amount now and the Excuses for Lewis need to end and George needs to be the focus moving forward. Stop trying create an alternate reality. Toto is not good for the team and Lewis is not GOAT. .Move on!
Lewis cant do any think in race he so use to be long way in front .and when he not out front he fluffs up and has brain frezz .and make mistake all the time and blame the team for his lack of skill
That’s why Alonso’s statement over the radio at SPA was spot on accurate. Hami is good when starting at the front and driving in clear air in a very dominant car. Close wheel to wheel battles with other good drivers has never been his strong point.
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