Hamilton questions Mercedes’ “wrong call” on race strategy

2015 Mexican Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

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Lewis Hamilton was unwilling to elaborate on his concerns over Mercedes’ strategy which caused him to describe his second pit stop as a “wrong call” during the Mexican Grand Prix.

Hamilton disputed whether it was necessary for him to make a second pit stop when his race engineer told him his tyres would wear out if he did not make a second pit stop:

FromToMessage
Peter BonningtonLewis HamiltonWe are going to convert to Plan B, converting to Plan B. We will be boxing this lap, no flap adjust.
Lewis HamiltonPeter BonningtonCan I ask why?
Peter BonningtonLewis HamiltonSo Lewis we’re just worried about wear on these tyres, we’re down to the canvas so we’re going to box this lap.
Lewis HamiltonPeter BonningtonBono these tyres are still good.
Peter BonningtonLewis HamiltonSo this is for safety reasons, Lewis, box this lap. So Lewis you will be boxing next lap .
Lewis HamiltonPeter BonningtonBono you need to check his tyres. My tyres feel good.
Peter BonningtonLewis HamiltonSo Lewis we were down to zero on the first set. For a long run on this set we will be down to zero if not worse, so this is boxing end of this lap instruction.
Lewis HamiltonPeter BonningtonI think that’s the wrong call. But I’m coming in.
Peter BonningtonLewis HamiltonOK we’ll debate that later so boxing end of this lap.

“No gust of wind”: Hamilton on Rosberg’s race
After making his stop Hamilton continued to press his point, telling Bonnngton: “Please check those tyres and let me know. I want some feedback on them.”

Hamilton finished behind race-winning team mate Nico Rosberg. Asked in the post-race press conference about his second pit stop and whether he thought he could have made it to the end on the set of tyres, Hamilton discussed other topics:

“It doesn’t really matter now but good race, the team did a good job,” he said. “Nico drove really well today: no mistakes, no gust of wind.”

“It was very difficult to follow here but what a crowd we had today, it was just incredible. I gave it my all, it was quite fun actually, just to be able to push and not really have to be worrying about points or anything like that, just go out and just racing. It was one of the fun races for me.”

Sergio Perez was the only driver to complete the race using a one-stop strategy which Hamilton had been urging. He made his first pit stop ten laps before Hamilton did, and therefore used his second set for considerably longer than Hamilton would have done.

2015 Mexican Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Nico RosbergSoft (26)Medium (20)Medium (25)
Lewis HamiltonSoft (28)Medium (20)Medium (23)
Valtteri BottasSoft (8)Medium (45)Medium (18)
Daniil KvyatSoft (21)Medium (31)Soft (19)
Daniel RicciardoSoft (24)Medium (28)Soft (19)
Felipe MassaSoft (9)Medium (43)Medium (19)
Nico HulkenbergSoft (9)Medium (43)Medium (19)
Sergio PerezSoft (18)Medium (53)
Max VerstappenSoft (25)Medium (27)Soft (19)
Romain GrosjeanSoft (11)Medium (41)Soft (19)
Pastor MaldonadoSoft (10)Medium (42)Soft (19)
Marcus EricssonSoft (10)Medium (29)Medium (12)Soft (20)
Carlos Sainz JnrSoft (13)Medium (30)Soft (8)Soft (20)
Jenson ButtonMedium (30)Soft (17)Soft (24)
Alexander RossiSoft (27)Medium (23)Soft (19)
Will StevensSoft (26)Medium (24)Soft (19)
Felipe NasrSoft (12)Medium (32)Medium (7)Soft (6)
Sebastian VettelSoft (1)Medium (34)Medium (15)
Kimi RaikkonenMedium (21)
Fernando AlonsoMedium (1)

2015 Mexican Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Sebastian VettelFerrari22.15635
2Nico RosbergMercedes22.3030.14746
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.3040.14828
4Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.3280.17248
5Nico RosbergMercedes22.3910.23526
6Daniel RicciardoRed Bull22.4220.26624
7Daniel RicciardoRed Bull22.4880.33252
8Daniil KvyatRed Bull22.5180.36252
9Daniil KvyatRed Bull22.5590.40321
10Max VerstappenToro Rosso22.5890.43352
11Romain GrosjeanLotus22.7350.57911
12Felipe MassaWilliams22.8490.6939
13Marcus EricssonSauber22.9560.80010
14Valtteri BottasWilliams22.9570.8018
15Max VerstappenToro Rosso22.9850.82925
16Jenson ButtonMcLaren23.0180.86247
17Felipe NasrSauber23.0260.87012
18Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso23.0680.91251
19Felipe MassaWilliams23.0860.93052
20Romain GrosjeanLotus23.1010.94552
21Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso23.1280.97213
22Valtteri BottasWilliams23.1601.00453
23Nico HulkenbergForce India23.2771.1219
24Marcus EricssonSauber23.2921.13651
25Jenson ButtonMcLaren23.3561.20030
26Felipe NasrSauber23.4171.26144
27Marcus EricssonSauber23.4611.30539
28Sergio PerezForce India23.5471.39118
29Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso23.7761.62043
30Felipe NasrSauber23.8131.65751
31Pastor MaldonadoLotus23.9371.78152
32Nico HulkenbergForce India24.1361.98052
33Will StevensManor24.2242.06850
34Will StevensManor25.0872.93126
35Alexander RossiManor25.3673.21127
36Pastor MaldonadoLotus26.6474.49110
37Sebastian VettelFerrari28.0705.9141
38Alexander RossiManor30.4428.28650

2015 Mexican Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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137 comments on “Hamilton questions Mercedes’ “wrong call” on race strategy”

  1. That was a very strange call. Lewis went to lap 28 on the option tires and had only done about 16 laps before he was called in. And then to say that his previous set was down to the canvas, was also very strange.

  2. A nightmare for mercedes management, let lewis 1 stop and either force nico to 1 stop also (he would have been prone at the end of the race due to being harder on his tires) or 2 stop nico and have him hunt down a slower lewis later in the race (potential conflict, and nico would be questioning why only he had to 2 stop).

    1. I personally find this even more suspicious considering the entire strategy of Hamilton was to be lighter on his tires (referencing the comments after qualy)

      1. Totally agree. I think Merc were much more interested in not looking like they did something that could favor Lewis than they were actual facts. Lewis was preserving his tyres and could easily have gone another 10 laps and then gone to softs if he had to stop.
        Merc were acting very strange there. That felt like another gift to Nico to me.

        1. Totally agree.

      2. oh cmon, after the 1st stops Nico’s tyres had 10% tread left whereas Lewis was down to the canvas. Saying Lewis was going to be better on his tyres doesn’t make it so, its just what his plan was. Turns out Nico was better on his tyres. Please stop, it just sounds desperate.

        1. Multiple journalists who saw the first tyre change called BS on that, they stated that it was not down to the canvas

        2. It’s just a few of us making an assumption based on what has been said without solid facts for the sake of conversation, as are many if not most of the comments on here. However why would Hamilton fans need to be desperate? He’s just become a three time WDC and won ten races this year regardless of circumstance there is definitively no despiration here :)

      3. Another gift to Nico ? You are kidding !?
        Tell us which were the others this year ?

        1. Monaco?

        2. RB (@frogmankouki)
          2nd November 2015, 15:48

          I quite remember the Monaco win falling into Nico’s lap. I’d say that was a gift.

    2. I think it was simpler than that.

      The team realised that they had more than a pit stop in hand for both drivers, and the safe option was to swap out the tyres. They would probably have lasted, but why risk it?

      Lewis questioned it, thinking that Nico had been harder on his tyres than he had, and that he could exploit that. The team wouldn’t have it: both drivers were about the same, and they were making a strategy call.

      If Lewis had been allowed to stay out and had won the race, Nico would have been fuming. If Lewis had been allowed to stay out and had run out of rubber, or been enough slower that he lost 2nd, Mercedes would have been damaged.

      It was just a strategy call, but the team had no choice but to insist on once Nico had complied. They told porkies to Lewis as he was likely to just ignore them if they told him the truth.

      1. I understand that Merc decided to play it safe by calling both drivers to pit, but I think it was a mistake to call Nico first.

        After Nico pitted, Lewis had the opportunity to refuse the call and (most likely, unless he hit a very serious degradation cliff in the end) win the race. Call it undeserved, unfair, whatever, but a win is a win. And surely knowing that all hell was going to break loose at Merc after the race if he didn’t, Lewis decided to comply. One more win was maybe not such a big deal with the championship already secured, but I believe that with the championship still undecided Lewis would have chosen to stay out and face the music afterwards.

        If Merc had called Lewis first, the dilemma would have been avoided. Once Lewis had pitted, it was a no-brainer for Nico to pit also, he would still came on top. And if for any reason Lewis refused to pit, then Nico wouldn’t either (but how much of a risk would it be for both Mercs in the endrace is hard to say).

    3. During the race, sure you can question the strategy of the Mercedes team concerning the tires. But when they made the call, I thought they were just trying to cover themselves in case of a safety car that could have caught their drivers out at the wrong time, and cost them the top two positions. Their cars had the margin to stop and get on fresh tires, and still retain the lead, so I thought they brought them in to cover that potential scenario where a safety car may have not allowed them to get to the pits in time to remain in front. Why risk that? So they made the call. Now I could be completely wrong, but imagine if that scenario had occurred…people would be wondering why they had not come in. If they stayed out on old rubber and got trounced by cars on fresher rubber after the safety car period, people would question that as well.

    4. @emu55

      let lewis 1 stop and either force nico to 1 stop also

      ROS had already stopped by then so we were realy looking at a Multi-21 type of incident.

  3. Hopefully people see the funny side of no gusts of wind comment, seriously I am starting to love the little snide comments from Vettel and Hamilton

    1. Vettel is funny, Hamilton is arrogant

      1. And you think Vettel is not arrogant as well? They’re all F1 drivers, it would be worrying if they weren’t arrogant and cocky.

      2. Ian Laidler (@)
        2nd November 2015, 10:43

        Sorry Patrick, I think that is BS, maybe you are confusing a cocky self belief as arrogance.

        I don’t always agree with some of the stuff Lewis comes out with but I would not call him arrogant, but then that is me.

        1. Yep @grumpy, a lot of people don’t really know what arrogance is. Lack of arrogance is one of Hamilton’s biggest problems. Arrogant people aren’t as sensitive to criticism, they just face everyone down.

          He can lack the deference some people think he ought to show, is the main thing – it’s the overt competitiveness. It’s an interaction. Like the comment below that he’s a millionaire, as though Nico isn’t.

          Though I didn’t really like the ‘gust of wind’ comment, I must admit. It was a weak moment, for me.

      3. Always have to throw in something negative about Lewis, don’t we.

      4. @paeschli, Usually I find Vettel’s humor a bit juvenile, but I have to agree he was indeed hilarious this weekend. First making fun of how the Merc guys would be taking each other out in the first corner and then he basically takes himself out. Classic.

      5. Hamilton, unlike Vettel, wasn’t sliding around the track making a mess of it like a child in over his head……..

      6. Really???? Vettel is arrogance personified. As evidenced by his foul mouth tirades when things do not go his way.

    2. I agree, and very much disliked his throwing the cap at Nico in Texas, was not needed, he was WC, should have shown a bit more dignity.
      I think he was pretty upset about not being able to win in Mexico, at the looks of his face after the race.
      Spoiled millionaire brat !

      1. I have come to the conclusion that you simply dont like Hamilton?

        1. No, not true, I think he’s one of the greatest, there’s no doubt, just should be a bit more careful about his acting.
          He has the eyes of the tiger, something that N. Rosberg didn’t have this year, simple !

    3. @bezza695 I did think it was funny and it always adds spice to the contest when the drivers start trying to get in each others’ heads.

      But at the same time when someone asks you a question and you talk about seventeen different subjects instead, it makes it rather obvious you’ve got something to hide. Maybe Hamilton didn’t want to admit that the way things turned out with the Safety Car made it clear the strategy he disagreed with was the right way to go.

      1. Nor did he want to admit that on that day and that weekend Nico had the upper hand and on equal tires and strategy LH couldn’t do anything about him. All Nico has to do is have a better day, to get into LH’s head. Oh, and the team to not do everything his way. A gust of wind is a real thing and has been considered on many many occasions at many many tracks (not saying we don’t all already know that), and so is the fact that on some days/weekends NR is just better. Or maybe LH, we’ll find out, was just ‘ill’ like he claims he was in 2011, from too much celebration of all he has that he is so so grateful for, that he also credits the team for, until he doesn’t get his way.

        1. If a gust of wind is a real thing then why get so defensive? All Lewis said was there were no gusts of wind yesterday. Unless of course, you know deep down the wind excuse is glaringly open to ridicule.

          1. Why get so defensive? Because LH was saying it as a jab, not a fact like you are trying to portray, and because everyone is acting like they’ve never heard of that and it is some lame excuse. In fact NR couldn’t figure out why he made that mistake and when the analysis showed it was wind, that at least made some sense, if to nobody else then to NR.

      2. We have the transcript from Hamilton’s radio conversations but NOT Rosberg’s. Until we see that, its reasonable to suggest that maybe Merc are hiding something. Why not let both drivers choose if and when to stop, having warned both of the alleged tyre situation, which curiously we have zero hard data on too. Given relative speeds and on track gaps, there no down side to letting Lewis choose. Maybe Rosberg had no choice. Maybe Rosberg had killed his tyres, while maybe Hamilton had preserved his for a final attack. Why not advise Lewis and Rosberg and let them choose? Merc had nothing to lose except Rosberg’s head. Merc would have lost nothing by leaving the choice to the drivers. Unless one driver had a problem, and one didn’t.

        Given Rosberg’s previous stroppy behavior, maybe Merc were managing him and Hamilton, since Hamilton had already won the WDC and Merc had won the WCC.

        If this was above board, we’d have both driver’s radio transcripts and the tyre data. We dont, so very obviously people are calling foul. Merc could have avoided this by allowing the drivers to choose.

      3. That is assuming that Lewis wouldn’t benefit from the safety car. If he stayed out and a safety car was called he could pit under safety car and get a free pit-stop. It could have been very likely that he could pit and come out in frond with a safety car.
        Also even if he came behind Nico he would have fresher tyres.

        So i really do not see how you assume that it shows that the Merc call proved right with the safety car.

  4. I think Hamilton was right to question Mercedes’ second pit stop: if Perez could make those tyres last 53 laps, then Mercedes surely could have made them last 45 laps? But then again, Mercedes didn’t want to take the risk, they had a free pit stop for both cars. So they decided to call both cars in for a pit stop, Rosberg first to preserve the Rosberg 1 Hamilton 2 order.

    Had Hamilton ignored his team’s orders, I think he could have won the race – if the safety car hadn’t interfered. And that’s the point, I’m 100% sure Mercedes would have called him in again during the safety car phase, so Rosberg would have retaken the lead anyway.

    1. Actually Hamilton would more than likely have stayed in front during the safety car due to less effect on time in the pits.

    2. @andae23, but Lewis, had he stayed out till the safety car, could have put options on and attacked Nico with a huge tyre advantage had Nico stayed out, or he could have lead Nico on options had they both come in. It’s all such a total guessing game and I’m sick and tired (no pun intended) of it.

    3. @andae23 I think he has really big chance to win with or without safety car. After SC there no really change of positions and even Perez with old tires only under pressure from Sainz for a few laps. We also don’t see any performance drop from Mercedes even in old soft tires so actually it could be a good fight between Rosberg and Hamilton in front especially when Rosberg is quicker in this track all weekend.

      The Mercedes call is indeed really weird and Hamilton (actually all driver in his position) should rightly demand for explanation. The safety issue is a terrible excuse and if it was true they could easily show the non confidential data to the public.

      1. I doubt that either driver needed a change of tyres. Both could have lasted until the end. The team decided that the safest thing to do, having a pit stop in hand, was to change them.

        They couldn’t do this for just one car, as it would end up looking like favouritism.

        Hamilton was right to ask, though, and the team should have explained that. Knowing Lewis, though, he could have just ignored the order to pit and won the race, which would have left a lot of bad feeling in the team. A little white lie saved that, and I’m sure Lewis will understand when it’s explained to him.

        1. Lewis didn’t knew on whether Nico pitted because he destroyed his tyres or not so he was right to be suspicious.
          Probably the team just wanted to play safe but still we do no know if Nico was fine with his tyres or not.
          There is a chance he had a problem and the team just covered his ass as to avoid fireworks.

  5. I think Mercedes called both in to maintain the order. Lewis should’ve stayed out, he could have won the race since the tires had good degradation and overtaking was very difficult.

    1. But the Safety Car would have put Rosberg and his much fresher tyres right on Hamilton’s tail

      1. Still, the good deg experimented, and inability to follow/overtake in today’s race would likely give advantage to track position.

      2. Hamilton could of pitted as time lost in the pits is less under safety car. It would of been down to who was nearest to pit entry when the safety car came out but if ham was near he could of come out ahead of rosberg or behind still but with tires several more laps younger.

    2. Hamilton would have lost the race had he stayed out, I believe. Rosberg would have gotten past him after the safety car.
      But this is typical Lewis. Whenever a situation arises where he can get a benefit from not accepting a team order after his team mate accepts, he just does it and people say it’s his fighting spirit.
      This would be akin to punching a boxer after the round is over.

      1. Rosberg would have gotten past him after the safety car.

        You know this how? Rosberg doesn’t find it exactly easy passing Hamilton.

        1. and hamilton could have changed to options under safety car.

      2. This is not because of what Lewis said. I was screaming “NO!” at the TV when they told Lewis to come in and I was VERY unhappy when they put him back on the prime tyres. He was easily keeping the softs alive and would have had a speed advantage.

        1. Seriously? His softs from 1st stint were more worn than Nicos. If they didn’t pit Nico would have been in an even stronger position relative to Hamilton, but the team didn’t want either of their cars bursting a tyre whilst they didn’t need to take that chance so they decided to pit them both, so they could both race fairly to the flag without worrying about their tyres. Nico accepted this and pit immediately, Hamilton was his usual petulant self and wanted to gain some advantage over Nico rather than just continuing to race him fairly and trying to pass him on track in an equal stare of car/tyre. Seriously can’t believe how some LH fans can twist the facts. Same people whom will make excuses about Lewis not being able to pass because of turbulent air etc will call these excuses if mentioned by Nico. Nice Logic there :-)

          1. Where did you get that from that his tyres were more worn than Nico’s? Also are you forgetting that he did 28 laps on tires that had also done qualifying, so he would’ve been able to easily make them last to the end.

          2. @KGN Nico’s Engineer told him he had 10% left of his 1st set of tyres and Lewis engineer told him that Lewis’ were completely worn and also separately that his tyre wear was worse than Nico’s. So yeah, I got that from the Mercedes F1 engineers that work on the cars. Now tell me how they are wrong/lying and its all a big conspiracy etc etc and i’ll go grab a bag of popcorn :-).

          3. Also @KGN, if he could make it to the end so could Nico, (both with some risk that merc was trying to avoid by pitting again as they had the gap to 3rd to do so) so what’s your point? Again all I see is team Merc made a safety call and treated both its drivers fairly, and Hamilton got all upset about how he couldn’t use it to his advantage because he was being beaten fair and square on track by someone in the exact same car on the exact same tyres as him. Don’t you see, there HAS to be an excuse with Hamilton and his fans when he is beaten, however irrational, & this is it for this race.

      3. You really dislike him don’t you colonel?

        Did you see Monaco….? Anyone would question strategy after that mess.

        Fact is the weird strategy ‘team’ mentality (and the need to stop NR imploding) robbed us of at least some kind of battle at the front – in short the fans of F1 lost out.

        It might or might not have worked but a typical 014 Bahrain battle was missed because of it and for that, much as I am sure Mercedes were happy, F1 fans should and are entitled to be annoyed. Not for your continued carping of LH though.

        LH had every right to question the request to pit. Monaco clearly shows that and, if all has to be equal then it is odd they did not demand NR to pit that day as a consequence of what they had done… But then NR would have lost out huge and been around 5th. Not good for the team. So they did not. Result. Nico gifted a win. For all your dislike, can you show just one time in his career anywhere, LH has been gifted a win? No you can’t. All you can show is wins being removed such as Spa 08 (just the most ridiculous decision ever – particularly for those of us that actually do go out and race)

        Reality is – they were happy with a 1-2, knew from Bahrain LH could and would make a fight of it regardless of compound and tyre wear and thus decided what was best for the team at this time. Nico happy. LH a little miffed, team gets another 1-2. More exposure.

        Fans? Well nothing really as it was frankly one of the worst races this year but, it’s still a chance for those hurting badly to comment on Hamilton and his ‘terrible attitude’ ‘earrings, hair, tattoos, jet, – frankly you name it just as long as no one sees the bigger picture of Merc stealing away an interesting battle.

        1. Sigh. For the 50th time, Monaco was Hamiltons call, the team told him to stay out and he overrode them. What a ‘team’ player, to then basically infer it was their fault to all your fans etc hey & not man up to your own mistake, not to mention again questioning good team advice from the pitwall.

          1. He didn’t overrode them. He asked a question. They decided it was fine to bring him in after they got their facts wrong.

  6. I think this was a situation much like Malaysia 2013. Hamilton was asked to lower his pace to fuel save and Rosberg was told to do the same.

    I think the team just saw that they had so much time in hand that they could get a free stop which would protect them against a potential safety car giving those behind one and decided to impose it on both drivers. They could both probably have gotten to the end on their set but seeing as the safety car came out and Red Bull and Williams took the chance to get a tyre change it was absolutely the right call.

    Mercedes got theirs out of the way before the safety car became and issue. Even if they hadn’t changed when they did they would have done once the safety car came out which would have meant double stacking them.

    1. + a million

      Both drivers had the tyres to go to the end, but the team imposed a ‘free’ pit-stop on both drivers.

      Rosberg could have one stopped easily and win the race on a one-stop. No mater which strategy you choose, Mercedes imposed the same strategy to both drivers so Nicole would always win.

  7. This is no surprise. As there is only one strategist for both drivers they don’t care who finishes first and who;s second so long as they get the top two steps on the podium. From a driver’s perspective that must really suck given that if you are behind your team-mate you won’t have someone working on getting you ahead of them. As Lewis appears to question the strategy more than Nico, he should push for separate race engineers/strategists for the coming years.

    1. As Lewis appears to question the strategy more than Nico, he should push for separate race engineers/strategists for the coming years.

      @velocityboy: Lewis seems to be pushing that agenda ever since the goof up in Monaco 2014, citing his McLaren days

  8. I think it was correct for the team to take the extra pit stop for both cars to be extra safe since they had the time in hand. But they could have explained it better to Hamilton. They could have just said – we have a large gap to third place so we are taking a precautionary pit stop for both cars. I think that would have been better understood and avoided any heated discussion or potential disobedience.

    Having said that, it would be very interesting to see if a driver had obeyed the instruction if the championship was still undecided. If not for the safety car, I think not pitting would have left Hamilton in the best position to win the race so there was definite potential for a huge fallout post race.

  9. Lewis not pitting would have been a nice way of negating the Monaco farce! ;)

    1. Yeah, I was thinking about Monaco too. The they had a tough choice – call Rosberg in first and risk Hamilton staying out, or call Hamilton first and risk an undercut.

      I was thinking about Abu Dhabi last year. Rosberg was told to retire his ailing car as Hamilton approached to lap him. That was lousy, they didn’t trust him not to cause a crash, and tried to pretend they were protecting the car. Rosberg handled himself with more dignity than he was treated with that night.

      So this is more mutual understanding than trust. Hamilton had every reason to wonder if they were right and forthright, since they have fallen short at both.

      I think he should have stayed out. He had track position and good tires. Of course he was driving, and without help from the team might not have realized his position. And only he knows how the team would respond to outright disobedience, and if it was worth it for a bonus victory.

    2. Oh dear, again. Lewis chose not to pit in Monaco, despite his team’s repeated urging. The only farce in Monaco was Lewis’ teamwork and decision making (shoulda listened to his team and then if it was wrong they all win/lose together, turns out if he had of listened to them he would have won, funny that, they want to win too). I’ve even heard some LH fans listen to this and claim it is STILL the teams fault as they didn’t DEMAND Lewis pit when he was asking to stay out. hahahaha wow that is taking lack of ownership of your own decisions to a whole new level.

  10. Red Bull’s pit stop consistency – four stops all with 0.137s of each other – would be amazing if Mercedes’ wasn’t even better at 0.088s!

  11. I think Mercedes made the right call completely. Tyre life was an uncertainty, and with more than a pitstop in hand over the rest of the field, why take the risk? What I don’t understand is why they felt the need to lie to Hamilton. He would have seen the logic in the call, and with Rosberg being given the same instructions, it’s not as though he would’ve felt like the team were screwing him over. If I were him, I’d be pretty hacked off, too. Not because the decision to pit was wrong, but because the team tried to convince him that the tyres were in poor condition, which was so obviously not the case.

    1. They didn’t lie, after 1st stint Nico’s tyres were at 10% and Lewis’ were fully worn. Nico’s engineer even got on the radio saying he should ‘just’ be ok to get to finish initially, so seeing as though Lewis 1st set of tyres were more worn than Nico’s what reason would the team have to think that this wouldn’t be the case with the 2nd set also for Lewis. If anything they were more concerned about a tyre failure on Lewis’ car than Nico’s if they didn’t pit. Nico had better tyre wear despite what Hamilton said about his supposes ‘better race setup’ (hot air? from Lewis? Never!). Can’t believe the fuss LH fans are making about this, its perfectly clear if you take off your ‘but Hamilton is always the best and should always win and if he doesn’t then something is wrong with F1 or someone else is to blame’ glasses for one second.

      1. The lie has nothing to do with the first set of tyres. As is clearly shown on the above transcript, the team told Lewis that his current set of tires (the primes) were “down to the canvas”, which was clearly not true, you could even see on TV they weren’t even close to being down to the canvas. YES they could very well have been correct in assuming the tyres would be completely worn by the end of the race, we will never know for sure. The issue is the team unnecessarily giving misleading information instead of saying to both drivers “right, we’re pitting both of you on safety grounds whilst we have a healthy gap to 3rd”, and be acknowledged PRIOR to Nico’s 2nd stop. It was just badly handled and I can understand Lewis’ questioning. I do not, however, think it was correct of him to stay out that extra lap.

        Anyone fancy a drinking game? Where the phrase “LH fans” is mentioned followed by bitter-toned comments?

        1. I took the ‘down to the canvas’ comment as referring to the 1st set of tyres, and he was saying it in a way to Lewis as to say, ‘look the 1st set were right down to the canvas basically, and we weren’t expecting that so we have had a think and we are gonna pit both cars again’. I didn’t think he was referring to the prime set Lewis was on as being down to the canvas at all. Lewis got confused and said ‘these tyres feel fine’ whih they would have at that stage for both cars as they had only done less laps than on the softs earlier. But the engineer was referring to worse tyre wear than expected ON THE SET THAT HAD COME OFF THE CAR.

          And for a reference there, Lewis’ engineer said his 1st set of \ tyres were down to the canvas basically, whereas Nico’s said his 1st set still had about 10% so he looked ok to go to end of race without stopping a 2nd time as his tyre wear was better than Hamiltons. So if anything the 2nd stop was to protect any issues with tyres on Hamiltons car more than Rosbergs. That’s the funny part about it, they are actually trying to help him have a better chance at the lead than he would have if they stuck to a 1 stop for both cars, and he is complaining about their decision making process whilst they are trying to do their best for him. What a champ, what a team player :-)

          1. You keep going on – have you noticed everyone is ignoring you.

            Have a think about why?

          2. @drg who isn’t ignoring you (apart from me – which for reasons I won’t bother explaining doesn’t count) apart of the guy you’re accusing of being ignored by everybody?

    2. @jackysteeg I tend to agree, but the problem is that the decision to lie to Hamilton makes you question whether there was something more to it. The lie was absolutely clear to everyone watching, and the fact that Hamilton knew it from in the car and not even able to see the full picture shows it. Why would Mercedes lie to Hamilton?

      A plausible scenario is that Nico’s tyre life was marginal to the end whilst Hamilton’s was not. We know that Nico was down to 10% on his first tyres and that Hamilton easily managed another two laps and possibly could have gone longer but for the lap time it was costing him compared to Nico on fresh tyres. The team knew they had a free pitstop so decided to pit both, keep the result unchanged and play it safe all round. The alternative could have been Hamilton having a shot at passing Nico on the final laps as Nico ran out of tyres so in effect the call guaranteed the win for Nico rather than leaving any residual risk of Hamilton winning. As the engineer knew they were delivering a duff strategy call to Hamilton they added the lie about ‘tyres worn to the canvas’ and ‘safety’ to force him to come in.

      In any case I think in all probability Nico would have won with or without the second stop (in fact both would probably have pitted under the safety car, negating Lewis’ chance) but Hamilton should be angry that they removed even the slight chance he ever had of winning the race.

    3. I like how people sitting on a sofa watching TV think they have more information and insight than the teams and their gigabytes of data coming from the cars…

      1. Actually sometimes we do!

        Who can forget some of the races where a simple arm held outside the window has been more accurate than all the computers telling them it’s not raining!

        In this instance it is pretty obvious they gave the safety message to ensure he pitted. Arguing as many on here are that ‘tyres were down to the canvas’ was a complete unknown at that time as the first set of tyres were a different compound on a constantly improving track.

        Still funny how a natural ‘why should I pit?’ Polarises everyone though.

  12. I think where the Mercedes strategists once again failed to cover all aspects was the fact that they didn’t even ask the drivers beforehand, they’ve just let them know there’s going to be another stop. They should have at least asked – obviously Lewis would have said ‘no,’ and I’m sure if Nico was told Lewis had said ‘no,’ he would’ve also stayed out.

    …As I typed this, I realised they could have gone through this chain of thoughts themselves as well – and then decided not to ask them and do the stops for safety concerns anyway…

    But I’m not taking the Mercedes strategists to be this cool in the heat of the moment when they’re probably the weakest link of the whole team nowadays.

    1. Well given it’s the tail end of the season with both championships decided, Mercedes could have let the drivers decide. Then we’d have had a more interesting battle of wits and nerve to see if one of them was going to risk pitting to get fresh tyres either for a push at the end of the race, or in case of a safety car.

  13. Of course the Plan B was for Nico’s benefit. There was no safety issue. Driver’s have different tire wear rates based on their techniques. Yes there were a few drivers who did 45+ laps. You can see clearly thru this smokescreen. Why is Mercedes always political with Nico’s pram antics? Pathetic that a current era dominating team must resort to this. Nico will never find the real results within as long as the team does this for him. The climate between these driver’s will continue unless another dominating engine emerges soon.

    1. I love how, even when Rosberg is faster the whole weekend, LH fans still claim it’s due the team favoritism that le lost.
      No matter which strategy you choose (pitting before SC, pitting during SC, only pitting once), Rosberg would have won given the same strategy as Hamilton.

      What Mercedes did was making sure they finished 1-2. It would have been the same if Lewis was in front.

      1. Ian Laidler (@)
        2nd November 2015, 10:38

        I completely agree …. I am a big Lewis fan but have to admit that Nico was on top form this weekend, as he was at the CoTA until the “gust of wind”, he had Lewis beaten in both races.

        On a different topic, I don’t think I have ever seen Seb make so many unforced errors in the same race, talk about a bad day at the office.

      2. But as we have seen in the past, it is not always that the fastest that wins, good strategy can also win. At the moment Mercedes as a team are calling the strategy, not the driver and his team. The FIA have imposed limits on starts and radio messages so that the driver has to do more himself, so why not involve the driver in the tyre choices as well.
        This we must treat each driver exactly the same policy of Mercedes falls apart as the aim of each driver is to beat his team mate. Where they should treat each driver equally is give each driver the same options and then let the driver decide.

        1. Fastest definitely won in Mexico though, was faster all race and all weekend. Everytime LH came at him he had an answer. Was faster in Austin too.

  14. Mercedes’ call is perfectly understandable from a team’s point of view, but usually they allow the driver behind some sort of chance on strategy (going onto the alternative tyre, or staying out a bit longer), but in this case they called a time-out on their racing, put them both on fresh tyres and set them off again.

    I think this played out in Rosberg’s favour, because any hopes Hamilton might have had of attacking Nico later in the race were gone when they both had fresh tyres. Of course, given all the misfortune Rosberg has suffered lately I can understand they didn’t want to favour Hamilton by leaving him out another ten laps and then fitting the soft tyres. Hamilton has the WDC to comfort him, but it was still an annoying team decision for him.

    1. Don’t forget that while Lewis lost a potential tyre advantage, the SC helped him reduce hid 3 seconds gap to Nico without having to push. In the end, Lewis just didn’t have the pace to beat Nico.

      1. @paeschli I agree that ultimately maybe Lewis don’t have the pace to beat Nico, but @adrianmorse is also right. I think Lewis banking on the hope that Nico wear his tires worse than him and he can have one final attack at the end of the race. The call, which is obviously the best for team interest, unfortunately might cost us a chance to see battle between Lewis and Nico. The only problem I have with the call is I don’t like the way how they ask Lewis to pit with cryptic information. They should just say it cleanly that they have free pit stop window and the team decided to pit both of them as an insurance.

  15. Mercedes simply wanted Nico to win, firstly to put him on 2nd place overall and to sugar coat his USA damaged ego.
    Because after Vettel got puncture and retired from race it was totally unnecessary to keep Lewis behind at all costs.
    Remember what Lewis has said on Saturday “Nica has quali settings, I have race” this explains Nico`s higher tyre wear, and if Lewis has stayed on track, he would be in Nico`s shoes controlling the race, but Merc played it safe.

  16. Why does hamilton question his strategy in public? Thats not very professional. he should keep that stuff in doors. Anyway, he had plenty of time to get passed Nico, 71 laps, but i didn’t see one attack. So he should stop complaining and say Nico beat him yesterday.

    1. When all communications between car and pit wall are public, how is he supposed to communicate with his team in private during a race?

      1. Ian Laidler (@)
        2nd November 2015, 10:31

        Well said, some people don’t think … and all drivers have the right to question decisions/instructions from the pitwall if they believe they may be incorrect or require clarification.

        1. Lewis’s motive for questioning the call was simply to inherit the lead from Nico for the race win without having to do anything. That is not very justified when both drivers are asked to pit. Remember that both Nico and Lewis were on similar tyre wear.

          1. That is a very accurate interpretation of the facts. I just don’t understand why the majority of the posters on this topic choose to believe otherwise.

    2. @thetick When you just do one of the longest stint on soft tires without falling the “cliff” and feeling reasonably comfortable with your current tire, won’t you question why suddenly you asked to pit because “the tire worn off”? Also do you think they have different comm button that say “public comm” and “private comm”? The team nor the driver have any say on what broadcasted by FOM. When Bono basically said he should pit, end of discussion, we talk about this later, Lewis doesn’t say anything more and pitted. What else do you want?

  17. Can somebody explain, why Lewis seems to be talking in simple English, whereas his engineer seems to be reading from a book

    1. Because the engineer is sat at a computer screen with enough thinking time to compose his communications to be as clear as possible and Lewis is trying to drive a race car while talking back.

  18. There is no conspiracy here. Mercedes opted to pit both their drivers with fresh tyres so that the Williams and Redbulls won’t have a tyre advantage over them at the restart. Considering that both Merc drivers had an extra pitstop in hand and then some, it was the right call by Mercedes to bring them both in. Safety was only a secondary factor as the tyres would have lasted till the end of the race.
    It would only be fair to the drivers if both of them came in and no lead change happens during the pitstops, especially considering that it was a strategy call by the team considering that both cars had run similar distance on the tyres.
    Hamilton shouldn’t have questioned the call since it was a fair decision, unless ofcourse he was looking for preferential treatment.

    1. Hamilton shouldn’t have questioned the call since it was a fair decision, unless ofcourse he was looking for preferential treatment.

      Today I learned that asking ‘are you sure?’ is the same as wanting preferential treatment.

      1. @raceprouk
        And I learned that “I think that’s the wrong call !” means “Are you sure?”
        When Lewis repeatedly says that his tyres are fine even though he knew Rosberg went into the pits for a tyre change which was initiated by the “Team”, it is an obvious statement that he does not want to come in for a pit stop.
        Now, if the team allowed him to stay out, then it would be a preferential treatment because Rosberg wasn’t given a choice. So yes! he was looking for it. He just didn’t get any.

        1. @rojov123, putting drivers on different strategies has nothing to do with giving one preferential treatment. Or does that little fact get in the way of your desire to read too much into things you don’t like?

    2. I am not sure if the tyres would have been OK to the end of the race because when Nico changed his first set of tyres Bono said to him that these tyres should be OK till the end but he didn’t sound absolutely convinced. The fact that they had more than a pit stop in hand made the call for a second stop a no brainer so correct call. The fact that there was a safety car a few laps later simply justifies the call as being spot on. It would have been wrong for the team to allow Lewis to try and finish the race on his second set as he may have inherited a win that he had not earned. By changing the tyres on both cars allowed them to continue racing each other with no team orders and may the best man on the day secure the win. Your posts on this subject make good sense but you are banging your head against the Lewis fan club as I have just done. I fear that we are grossly outnumbered here.

      1. Well not really Angela – different tyres and a safety car gave us Bahrain 014. The potential for similar was removed by the ‘both must pit’ issue.

        That is a very different lament to the banging against the fan club and several have pointed this out.

        Nico did an excellent job but Mercedes decided how the race would go rather than letting the drivers race.

  19. chilllax guys… this strategy by Mercedes was the only way they could get some coverage time.. ;) !

  20. If I remember correctly, the initial strategy was for a 1 stop race, so I find it extremely difficult to understand the imminent danger Lewis faced if he did not come in for this second stop. The pit wall have made wrong calls in the past, recent case in point Monaco 2015, that cost Lewis a win. Now whether these calls are deliberate – to assist one driver over the other – or not, we’ll never really know. But IN MY OPINION they just don’t go down very well.

    1. @stubbornswiss the 1 stop race strategy are totally thrown out of the window by all the teams when they found out the tire wear is actually much higher than the simulation may suggest. Williams short 1st stint also trigger series of pit stops that makes whole field switching to 2 stop strategy at the beginning of the race. Interestingly, the only drivers that go long enough in their 1st stint for 1 stop race is Hamilton, Rosberg, Perez, Stevens, and Rossi. Even then only Hamilton and Rosberg that still have the pace at the end of their stint. With that fact I think it’s justified for Mercedes to take an insurance especially when they effectively have free extra pit stop and the stake is tire blown out like Vettel in Spa. On the other hand, it also make sense to stick to 1 stop strategy because so far it looked like Mercedes drivers can make it work. At the end, I believe Mercedes only pit them to protect the 1-2 finish, not some hidden agenda to help one of the driver win.

    2. Only one driver finished the race on a one-stop, and that was Perez. And even though he looked after them well, they were still ruined at the end.

    3. Lewis might not have faced any danger from tyre wear. But the important point is neither did Rosberg. But how would it be fair if the team brings in Nico and allows Lewis to stay out, thereby handing the lead to Lewis? So, both had to come in.

    4. Plan B means that they had discussed more than one strategy. What good is a mind or a plan if you can’t change it when the circumstances warrant it?

  21. Lewis was right to question it but from a fairness point of view from Merc they made the right call in pitting him.

    Nico won Mexico fair and square, the one thing that sticks out for me though is that when Lewis beats Nico it is often by a big gap of like 10+ seconds ahead of his team mate, whenever Nico wins generally the gap is always very small which I think shows the real performance difference in the actual driver ability, we all know how difficult it is to overtake someone in the same car as you (and we saw yesterday that Mexico generally did not lend itself well to overtaking) but to keep the gap down to a minimum is all you can do. I know the gap fluctuated a bit up to 3 seconds.

    I do love Lewis’s digs at Nico too, it’s not arrogant to make comments like that it’s all mind games which is such a huge part of winning, the best drivers can win half the race without even getting into the car and lets be honest claiming you got blown off the circuit by a freak gust of wind that affected no other car in the entire race was quite frankly ridiculous, if you make a mistake then just take it on the chin like Vettel did at Mexico.

    In other news i’m also quite amused that when Lewis and Nico both had bad races at Hungary everyone criticised them saying how they’d be nowhere without the car etc but when Vettel has a bad race people hardly comment.

    Funny old things F1 fans :)

  22. Hamilton coming into the pits for his second stop was one of the most depressing sights I’ve seen as an F1 fan. Race engineers are now so in control of the races that drivers have absolutely no free will.

    @keithcollantine, you wrote an article about how F1 needs to be more unpredictable and you couldn’t be more right. It’s not the Mercedes dominance, the sound of the engines or how the cars look that’s Formula One’s problem, it’s the unpredictability.

    You can throw in stupid gimmicks like DRS to try and spice things up but then have the whole race mapped out on a computer anyway with absolutely no variables. The only interesting races this year have been Silverstone/COTA (wet) and Hungary (driver’s minds elsewhere) and it’s because the races were unpredictable and the drivers and engineers didn’t know what to do.

    In a MotoGP race this year, Rossi and Lorenzo were battling it out on a drying track losing 5 seconds a lap on the wrong tyres but neither of them pitted. Why? Because a race engineer wasn’t telling them exactly how the race would pan out and how much time they were losing. They were doing what THEY wanted to do and it made for an incredible race and a truly strange result.

    F1 cars need to stop being driven by the engineers from a computer screen and instead the drivers. Everyone pits at the same time, everyone is told how to drive, when not to overtake, when to save tyres. No wonder the races are dull?

    TMI – Too much information.

    1. its because of the way these tyres go through the thermal degredation, the drivers don’t have the feel for them that they used to.

      as button said a bit earlier in the year with the michelin’s & bridgestones you didn’t need to be told what the tyres were doing because the driver could feel the wear & the driver could tell when they were getting to the end of the tyres life. with these pirelli’s its all about temperature rather than wear & the drivers obviously can’t feel what temperature range there in, if the temperatures go outside of the range they either don’t work because there too cold or start falling to pieces via thermal degredation if there too hot.
      the driver can be feeling a lot of grip one lap & feel the tyres are fine but the next lap there falling off the cliff without any warning because they got a bit too hot.

      the only reason the teams monitor the tyres so much now is because its the only way of properly reading them because its all temperature related now rather than just how much rubber is left on them as it was in the pre-pirelli/thermal degredation days.

      they need to move away from this thermal degredation thing & go back to tyre life based on the compound rather than the extra chemicals they put into the tyres (that would never be in a tyre normally) to create the thermal degredation.

    2. That’s a bit of an overreaction don’t you think? I’m disappointed as well, but it certainly wasn’t beyond Hamilton’s ability to stay out if he wanted to. Compare that to WEC, where the stints seem to be decided before the cars even leave the pits.

    3. @tommyb89

      that drivers have absolutely no free will.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuZQkZAVWCc

  23. Mercedes had such a pace advantage over the Red Bulls that it would have been daft not to pit them both when they did. They had an entire pit stop in hand, so why not stick fresh rubber on? It is also worth noting that if Hamilton had stayed out when he was told to pit, he would have been swallowed up by Rosberg and potentially Bottas and Kvyat after the safety car. With exception of determining when the right time to go onto a wet or dry tyre is, the driver should absolutely not come up with the strategy. That is what happened at Monaco at Hamilton and it failed spectacularly and it also happened at Hungary with Rosberg and that clearly ended well too.

    1. @craig-o actually if Hamilton is not pitting, he never in any danger from anyone except Rosberg. Even then its not easy job for Rosberg and most likely Hamilton will win the race. Look at the tire strategies, assuming Hamilton not pitting, he need to do 43 laps stint. Bottas, Massa, Hulkenberg, Perez, Grosjean, and Maldonado already do >40 laps on medium without going “over the cliff”. In fact, Perez who do the longest stint can’t be passed by Verstappen with soft tires afer SC.

      1. @sonicslv as @craig-o points out, why risk a 43 lap stint? To what end? So that Merc can have both their drivers in a tussle? When they were clearly going to 1-2? Don’t get me wrong I’m all for the honesty of both drivers on all teams being given every opportunity to win in all ways possible, legal, and fair, but their only task at hand now is to keep dominating, because that is their honest position on the grid, and keep NR ahead of SV in the standings until the end of the season, because he has earned that, and certainly did yesterday.

        1. @robbie I agree with Mercedes call, as I already said in another comment in this article. I just saying if Hamilton not pitting, he actually have big chance to win the race with or without SC, contrary to what @craig-o think he will lose position easily to Rosberg, Bottas, and Kvyat. I just simply analyzed what-if scenario with benefit of hindsight.

  24. this is what happens when you have tyres that the teams don’t trust.

  25. After Nico pitted, had Lewis stayed out as he wanted to, when the Safety Car happened a few laps later he would have definitely pitted. He was close to the pits when the SC was deployed. He could have pitted without losing much time, while Nico would have been crawling around at a slower speed because of SC conditions. Lewis could have got back out in front and on new tyres and would have almost certainly won the race.
    So the point is if you stay out a bit longer you increase your chances of a SC happening and being able to profit from it.
    However, had Lewis opted to stay out and try and finish the race on that set of tyres, he would have been easily caught by Nico. Lewis’s tyres would have been a mess by lap 71. Perez was struggling on his tyres. I think Lewis could have done the distance but couldn’t have fended off Rosberg.

    1. If he hadn’t have pitted when he was called, he would have been 20 odd seconds past the pit entrance and would have had to crawl round for nearly two minutes before getting in. Nico would have had something like 4 laps to close 3 ish seconds, which I think he would have achieved myself. I don’t think this race was ever on for Lewis.

  26. Poor “so, so grateful” LH couldn’t beat NR on equal tires and strategies so immediately defaults to distrust of the team. And goes into pout mode. Having already sealed it all up for this year.

    Hey I get the WDC level burning desire to win concept, but that doesn’t mean it is a quality that is always pretty or always necessary. When it is win at ALL costs that’s when I start to have issues…why I have little respect for the MS/ Ferrari reign.

    LH needed the world to know he could have won that race, if only, by his second guessing of the team that has brought him his glory…yet on equal terms, this time he couldn’t even get within DRS range. He needed a better strategy from the team, but they saw no need to risk anything when they were going to get their 1-2, and perhaps they saw a huge team opportunity to see NR leap ahead of SV in the standings. Surely NR has at least earned that.

    Is LH that insecure that even after handling NR all season he still has to prove that he is better or faster? Does he not think he has already shown that, indeed over two seasons? I just wonder when, between now and the next race, we will hear again all about LH growing up so poor and destitute that it still haunts him to this day…poor LH…so poor he got to go go-karting with the rich and famous. The horror.

    Sorry LH, I should forgive you the heat of the moment reaction just as I asked people to consider that for NR at CotA. But we’ve seen this from you before, and now that you are so so grateful for all you have and for emulating Senna and in a selfish way claiming to ‘carry the baton’ there are far bigger injustices to whine about than woulda, coulda, shoulda, especially after pushing NR off and giving him true cause for anger. Such a team player you are LH, as long as the team is all about you, even after you have it all. Very unattractive. At least to me anyway.

    1. All he did was ask if the team was sure; that is no justification for the level of bile you’re spewing

      1. Oh I think you know there is more to it than that from LH’s quotes including on the radio as quoted above, and his body language after the race, and after all the bile spewed toward NR even after being pushed off the track and not just smiling and accepting that, I think the least LH deserves is a little bile thrown his way for a hissy fit based on woulda, coulda, shoulda.

        Correct me if I’m wrong but I think you did your fair share of running NR into the ground after CotA, and now here you are trying to claim that all LH said was are you sure, conveniently ignoring the radio comm quoted above that he also said he wanted to know more about his tires, conveniently ignoring his attitude after the race, his gust of wind comment.

        It has become unfathomable to LH that NR could best him on a weekend, or that the team wouldn’t do everything his way, and so his best defense is to mistrust the very team that brought him these WDCs even when he has nothing else to prove this year…other than…he can be had, on the track and off. He is being less gracious in defeat for far less tangible reasons than NR has been accused for tangible reasons.

        1. Where did you get your psychology degree from? (you need a refund)

        2. I always love reading the drivel spouted by those foolish enough to try to justify their hate-fuelled joke of a viewpoint.

    2. @robbie You just sound so bitter!

      1. Lol that’s true but some things just set me off once in a while. Believe me I don’t ‘hate’ LH and I even hate the term ‘hater’ used in social media. I’m just disappointed in LH’s reactions and was disappointed in how much of a hard time NR gets sometimes. And I’m just a supporter of NR, but not a fanatic…just want to see him break out and improve vs LH et al.

        1. Well thank you for such a civil reply. Most of us are here because we love the sport of F1, and like with any other sport, we each have a team and/or individual that we support. But it is so sad sometimes to see just how personal and hateful some can get. I guess the internet has created that opportunity. Plus I think the world generally has gotten more hateful and less tolerant. Anyways, like I said, thanks for your respone, and enjoy the last few races. And who knows – maybe next season the planets will align for Nico.

    3. @robbie

      When it is win at ALL costs that’s when I start to have issues

      What has that got to do with anything though?

      It’s not like Lewis paid said cost in Mexico (ever heard of Jerez 1997? Suzuka 1989? You probably have so I’d rather you not forget about them)!

  27. It’s odd that when Rosberg was attacking Hamilton they did give him another strategy. That only happened a few times in 2014, but still. When Hamilton is behind Rosberg he is never given the option to try something different.

    It does feel a bit fishy although I doubt they actually did it this time to hinder Hamilton (or favor Rosberg).

    Probably they pushed Rosberg into doing an extra stop and then couldn’t let Hamilton decide to go for the better/riskier strategy anyway. Rosberg already freaks out when he’s hung out to dry in the first corner (when he forgets to yield) let alone when he thinks the team “helped” Hamilton to the win.

    1. Your first paragraph…sweeping generalization skewed entirely to pity LH.

      Your second paragraph…fishy, but not fishy?

      Your last paragraph…’probably pushed Rosberg’? Huh? ‘let Hamilton decide’? So the team decides for Nico, but LH gets to decide for himself? Rosberg ‘always freaks out’? Ya to the point where he was so rattled he owned LH this weekend.

      Perhaps NR is far stronger than some think. And, if we’re lucky, and we’ll have to see it I admit, perhaps LH has poked the bear once too often.

      1. Actually his first paragraph is an observation one that is backed up with a Un referenced fact which you could research in no time at all. His second paragraph is self explanatory it’s an opinion based on that he can see why people are asking the questions although it’s his belief that it is unlikely. His third paragraph was speculation mixed in with common knowledge that Nico was not happy.

        1. Say what? It is a fact that LH is ‘never’ given the option to try something different when behind NR? How would any of us know that, with what limited radio comm we get to hear, not to mention pre-race meetings and discussions that we will never be privy to. What radio comm we have heard would indicate that sometimes they do actually entertain options for LH based on his input.

          As I said generalizations and speculations only, and I called him on it, but thanks anyway for trying to come to Patrick’s rescue. ‘Never given the option’ and ‘always freaks out’ are inaccuracies I couldn’t ignore.

          1. I was not coming to his rescue. I was just pointing out you could do some research to disprove his statement but instead you dismissed it As speculation.
            Remember English PPE… point, evidence, explain. I am sure you’re right though I’m just saying for arguments sake you can’t disprove something with an opinion.

          2. We get to hear all of the radio transmissions, if we so choose. Do look up the radio transmission logs of past races on this very website.

  28. wrong call or Karma

  29. This is not the 1st time Mercedes has Neutered the drivers denying the world a race. Its been a year and a half since they actually RACED each other.

  30. Had the title not already been wrapped up, I think Hamilton would have disobeyed the team and stayed out. Would have made for a more exciting finish. Shame Merc played it so safe.

    They were evenly matched this weekend; Rosberg managed to get a good enough start to be able to close the door at the first corner, but he wasn’t able to pull away during the race, and the technical nature of the middle sector prevented Hamilton getting into DRS range. Would have loved to see some wheel to wheel action :(

  31. Mercedes team don’t like the competition.

    1. @saubers1 Eevr heard of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes?

      Good. Think about what you’d do if you were team Brackley who primarily wanted to win, not dance to the tune the world wants you to dance to (in which case retiring would’ve been a better thing to do than let drivers race anyway since that’s what said tune actually is).

  32. Let Nico win for a change.. Surely

  33. Lewis had to react like max. No!!!!

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