Photo: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had his best race of the year at Silverstone this past weekend, leading the Grand Prix during the middle pitstop phase after successfully extending his first stint on the medium tire until lap 33.
To put things into perspective, rivals Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc needed to pit on laps 20 and 25, respectively.
However, instead of giving Hamilton soft tires, Mercedes chose the hard compound instead, which according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, was the wrong move, reports Motorsport.
“I was actually surprised that Lewis, with the amount of laps to go, and the degradation that he’s shown, didn’t take a soft,” said Horner.
“He went onto the hard tire on lap 33 and I actually thought he was going to go on to the soft, because that would have made it much easier for him to make the offset in grip. It felt like they [Ferrari] have maybe been let off the hook there.”
Horner then went on to question Ferrari’s own strategy for not getting Sainz out of Leclerc’s way early on in the race – and then choosing not to pit Leclerc during the final Safety Car stage.
“Everybody’s different, aren’t they? Every team is different. I suppose that the call I understood least was not to pit both their cars, or certainly Charles, for the soft tire [at the safety car.”
“[Hamilton] obviously had a free stop,” added Horner. “And when you’re the lead car, it’s the hardest thing in the world to pit from the lead. But I think even if Lewis would have stayed out, with the tire advantage of the soft, they [Ferrari] would have repassed him.”
By not pitting Leclerc during that interval, the Monegasque driver was dropped from first to fourth, which also meant he didn’t get to earn considerably more points than his title rival Max Verstappen.
However, instead of giving Hamilton soft tires, Mercedes chose the hard compound instead, which according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, was the wrong move, reports Motorsport.
“I was actually surprised that Lewis, with the amount of laps to go, and the degradation that he’s shown, didn’t take a soft,” said Horner.
“He went onto the hard tire on lap 33 and I actually thought he was going to go on to the soft, because that would have made it much easier for him to make the offset in grip. It felt like they [Ferrari] have maybe been let off the hook there.”
Horner then went on to question Ferrari’s own strategy for not getting Sainz out of Leclerc’s way early on in the race – and then choosing not to pit Leclerc during the final Safety Car stage.
“Everybody’s different, aren’t they? Every team is different. I suppose that the call I understood least was not to pit both their cars, or certainly Charles, for the soft tire [at the safety car.”
“[Hamilton] obviously had a free stop,” added Horner. “And when you’re the lead car, it’s the hardest thing in the world to pit from the lead. But I think even if Lewis would have stayed out, with the tire advantage of the soft, they [Ferrari] would have repassed him.”
By not pitting Leclerc during that interval, the Monegasque driver was dropped from first to fourth, which also meant he didn’t get to earn considerably more points than his title rival Max Verstappen.
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