Lewis Hamilton finished the Turkish Grand Prix in a modest fifth position, just three places ahead of a Carlos Sainz who started last. Like Lando Norris did in Sochi, the Mercedes man ignored the advice of his team.
Much was made of Lando Norris’ inexperience after ignoring the advice of his team during the final laps of Sochi when he decided to stay on the track on dry tires despite the fact that it had started to rain.
Finally, such audacity made him lose the victory to finish in a disappointing seventh position. Something similar to what happened in Istanbul Park to a much more experienced pilot: the seven-time world champion, Lewis hamilton.
New intermediates or stay out
This past Sunday’s race on the Ottoman circuit started with very wet asphalt, but no trace of rain on the radars. The possibility of finishing the race on a dry track was an option, although the drivers and teams knew that the asphalt of Istanbul Park drains practically nothing and this would take a long time.
Thus, when halfway through the race, many drivers began to enter the pits to place new intermediate tires, three decided to bet everything to finish the race without stopping in the pits.
Charles Leclerc eventually regretted it and pitted later, while Esteban Ocon endured until the end and finished tenth. For his part, Lewis Hamilton resisted the advice of his team, paying it later.
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When his track engineer, Peter Bonnington, called him to the pits on lap 41, Hamilton replied: “Why? I don’t think you have to do it, buddy. “. Hamilton ignored the call, staying on the track until lap 49, at which point he finally agreed to pit.
After falling from third to fifth place, the Briton asked his engineer: “Why did you give up that advantage? What position am I in? When they told him he was fifth, he added: We shouldn’t have gone in, man. I have a lot graining, I told you!”.
With only eight laps remaining, Hamilton struggled on his new tires and Pierre Gasly came close, which also did not help to calm the seven-time champion. “Gasly in a second,” Bonnington informed him. “Leave me alone, uncle”was the answer.
Furious
Finally, Hamilton managed to contain Gasly’s attacks to finish fifth. When asked after the race whether his tires could have lasted to the finish, Hamilton replied: Heard Ocon’s did, so I guess they probably could have held on..
Hamilton later admitted that he should have listened to the team’s advice to pit earlier or completely ignore the call and stay out until the end. “The tires were bare, so it was not possible to know how far they were going to go, so there was some concern about their durability”.
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“He really wasn’t that fast at the end and he was suffering, he had little grip. Then he didn’t have such a bad rhythm, but he kept wasting time with the guys in the back, “said Hamilton.
“In retrospect, I should have stayed out or entered much earlier because when you come in with only eight laps to go, you don’t have much time to go through the phase of graining. So it was a bit frustrating, but it is what it is. It felt good to be third, I thought I could hold onto it starting from 11th place, but it could have been worse.
Pirelli and Wolff give their point of view
Mario isola, Pirelli’s technical manager, examined Hamilton and Ocon’s tires after the race, stating that both games came in very poor condition.
“The drivers who changed their tires in the final stages of the race found a slightly drier track, which resulted in a little more graining. Those who stopped earlier were able to limit it and this was a key advantage in intermittent rain conditions »the Italian pointed out.
«Bottas executed the perfect strategy in demanding circumstances (He stopped on lap 37 (13 before Hamilton). Many other drivers delayed their pit stop because it was not clear how dry the track would be before the end of the race. “
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“Doing the entire race with an intermediate game, however, was not what we would advise, and in fact we alert some teams to the potential risk of doing so »Isola stressed.
“Looking at the tires after the race, I would say that I would not have made it or at least I was at the limit,” he said in relation to Hamilton. “The wear on the tires, especially at the end of the race, was basically taking place on the structure. It’s a bit dangerous to push the limits like that. I fully understand that in race conditions they have to maximize the result.
“It was very, very borderline. I suggested to our engineers that they warn the teams to change the tires, not to go to the end because it was a risky move, “he concluded.
Toto wolffFor his part, he stated that “the intermission looked obviously scary, but we thought maybe we could finish third without stopping. Or if a dry line appeared, maybe even move to a soft tire all the way. We had to choose between stopping in the pits being very conservative and fighting Leclerc and Pérez on the track for third position, or taking a chance and fighting to win.
“Then we saw Leclerc fall and Lewis started to fall too, so it was clear that we would not reach the end. In the car, Lewis didn’t see how much he was losing in lap time and he didn’t see Leclerc go to pieces.. It was clear that if he had stayed out, he would have lost against Gasly in any case, “he said, convinced.
“It’s always frustrating to see the other cars that haven’t really passed you on the track in front of you. The right decision would probably have been to be very conservative and pit when everyone changed intermission.. But that’s a posteriori, after the race, “he concluded.