F1
Tyre Tactics Misfire: Hamilton Critiques McLaren’s Strategy at Italian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton expressed concerns about McLaren's strategy of pushing aggressively and wearing out their tires too quickly. He was taken aback by the team's approach during the initial laps of the Italian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton is convinced that McLaren could have secured an easy victory at the F1 Italian Grand Prix if they had slowed down and taken better care of their tyres.
McLaren couldn't turn their strong starting position at Monza into a win, as Ferrari and Charles Leclerc outmaneuvered them.
Oscar Piastri was ahead of his teammate Lando Norris following the initial pit stops, with Leclerc trailing closely.
Nevertheless, following his excursion off the track at Turn 4, McLaren revised Norris's strategy to include two pit stops and subsequently applied the same approach to Piastri.
This allowed Leclerc to gain the lead on the track and eventually secure the win at Monza.
After the race, Hamilton expressed his opinion that McLaren could have secured a victory if they had just slowed down at the beginning.
"McLaren had the speed but overexerted themselves," Hamilton stated. "They were setting excessively fast lap times at the beginning, which wore out their tires."
"They must have intended a two-stop strategy, which explains their aggressive pace. If they had eased off for a longer duration, they might have managed to complete the race with just one stop."
"I was receiving updates on their lap times. Maintaining that speed would be impossible for the tires. Charles performed exceptionally well, kudos to him."
Regarding Hamilton's performance in the race, he achieved a fifth-place finish, outperforming both Red Bulls and his teammate George Russell.
Hamilton had a fairly simple race since he couldn't match the speed of the leading two teams.
Hamilton disclosed that Mercedes had intended to make a single pit stop, but they faced difficulties due to tire wear.
He mentioned that they initially intended to make just one pit stop, but his tires were deteriorating as he tried to keep up with Carlos.
"It was certainly surprising. However, given their recent upgrade, it was only a matter of time before they outpaced us."
“I wish we were still competing, but we have to keep moving forward.”
Mercedes lacking an update
Hamilton believes that Mercedes' slower speed compared to Ferrari is because the Italian team brought a significant upgrade for this weekend.
He mentioned that the only advantage was their strong reliability, but noted that other teams had it as well. He admitted that they lacked the necessary speed during the race and expressed uncertainty about the reason.
"Even if I had started in a better position, it would still have been challenging. The Ferraris would have overtaken me anyway because they were faster than us."
"They received an upgrade this weekend, while we did not. That's just the nature of the competition. There will come a time when we get an upgrade and they don't, and we hope to perform better then."
"The differences between us are extremely slim. Sadly, we lacked speed today and experienced higher tire degradation. I could have opted for a one-stop strategy, but it wouldn't have changed my final position."
Continue Reading
Breaking News
Breaking News
Site Map
Crash.Net
©1999-2024 Crash Media Group
Reproducing any part of the text, images, or drawings, either in whole or in part, is prohibited in all formats.
Discover more from Automobilnews News - The first AI News Portal world wide
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.