In the last attempt at the fastest lap of qualifying at the Hungaroring, Lewis Hamilton performed a very slow lap in front of the Red Bulls, leading to the Briton being criticized for unsportsmanlike behavior.
The truth is that Formula 1 It is no stranger to the meticulous preparation by the drivers for the fastest lap this year, as Pirelli tires are very sensitive to temperature and it is vital to get their preparation right on the exit lap from the pits.
It is not strange either to see the Mercedes roll very slowly before starting the launched lap and even leave the pits without having previously warmed up the tires on the thermal blankets. But, for whatever reason, on this occasion the way of proceeding of Lewis hamilton it has raised many suspicions.
It’s a bit of a mind game. I mean, Lewis had a hell of a turn in his pocket. “
Christian horner he was one of the first to do so, pointing out that “it’s a bit of a brain game. I mean, Lewis had a hell of a turn in his pocket. And then obviously he didn’t want to give our cars a clean lap. But it is his right to do that, he has a position on the track. So we don’t have a major problem. It’s about tomorrow, “he said, downplaying the situation, but unable to avoid throwing a hint.
“I think we would probably focus more on preparing our tire because you can see that his lap time was nowhere near his qualifying time. Obviously he was more interested in what was going on behind, but that’s part of the game. “, he concluded.
Hamilton was slow even on pit road and also in the exit lane of the pit-lane. When he went out on the track, the Red Bulls were able to overtake him, but they decided not to and finally Sergio Pérez did not cross the finish line in time.
There were no tactics
As far as Mercedes is concerned, both Toto wolff like Lewis Hamilton, they denied that they made any deliberate maneuvering to hurt Red Bull.
“That is not something that is discussed,” said the director of Mercedes. “I think everyone tried to have the greatest possible distances. We saw that the average was between seven and eight seconds throughout all qualifying sessionsBut the camera was pointing there, so maybe we didn’t see the others doing it.
Lewis Hamilton, for his part, was even annoyed after being informed of Horner’s words and a accusatory tweet from Romain Grosjean, former Haas driver and current IndyCar driver.
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It’s so stupid… Everyone was slow, didn’t you watch everyone else? I do not understand. Do you think he could have gone faster and then been closer to Valtteri? I mean, everyone was doing a slow lap. It was no different, really, from any other round, “he said.
“Of course every time we go out we try to prepare the tires and keep them cooler because they get very hot during the lap. He wasn’t playing any tactic. I don’t need to do tactics man. I know what I am doing in the car and it is fast enough, we do not need to add tactics, ”stressed the author from pole.
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“Those who are making these comments don’t really know anything about the work we are doing here, that it is probably the reason why they are not piloting here »he snapped, alluding to Grosjean.
“We were one of the last cars to leave. I knew that in front of Valtteri and whoever was in front of him, they would all cluster towards the end of the lap, so I tried to create as great a distance as possible. And then even with that, at the end of the lap, we still had to backtrack and wait for everyone to get going », the British concluded.