Lewis Hamilton ‘partly’ takes blame for the disappointing weekend at Dutch GP

Lewis Hamilton finished a lonely P8 at the Dutch GP after winning the last race in Belgium.

Lewis Hamilton ‘partly’ takes blame for the disappointing weekend at Dutch GP

Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

Lewis Hamilton appeared as the lead driver in the intra-team battle at Mercedes after winning two races before the summer break. This raised the hopes of the fans as they anticipated the Brit to be at the sharp end in Zandvoort. However, their hopes came crashing down as Hamilton had a terrible start to the weekend and only managed to salvage four points in the main race. He also partly took up the blame for his lackluster outing.

Mercedes started the season with a deficit in pace from the top three teams. This deficit faded as the Brackley-based squad soon started competing for wins and poles and even claimed a 1-2 finish in Belgium, before George Russell‘s disqualification. However, Lewis Hamilton‘s weekend in Zandvoort was in contrast to his previous ones as he did not even make it to Q3 while his younger teammate outqualifed a Red Bull to start from P4.

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This urged the Brit to accept his mistake that ruined a potential good weekend for his side of the garage.

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Partly me, partly the car. I think the car definitely didn’t feel as strong as the last race for some reason. We need to look into that. Whether our upgrade is actually delivering or not, we have to wait and see.
Lewis Hamilton said in the post-race interview

The 39-year-old claimed that the W15 was not as stable and predictable as the previous few weekends. However, he soon admitted his mistake as he claimed he was partly to blame as he considerably reduced his chances for a strong weekend due to his early qualifying exit.

Lewis Hamilton revealed reason why he was put on a two-stop strategy

A one-stop strategy was understood to be the faster one around the 4.3-kilometer track due to low degradation. On the other hand, Mercedes put both of its drivers on a two-stopper which baffled viewers as it was the slower alternative in the race conditions.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

Subsequently, Hamilton explained the reason for going on a two-stop strategy despite originally planning for a one-stopper.

Strategy wise, we were looking at running to the end on the one-stop. I had a lock-up on the Hard tyre though and that meant we switched to the two-stop. It was a shame to lose the point for fastest lap at the end, but I should have put in a quicker effort earlier on.
Lewis Hamilton said in the post-race interview

The former world champion stated that the team was focused on doing a one-stop strategy. However, he had a lockup in his second stint which urged the team to change to a two-stop as the tire would significantly increase vibrations inside the W15 which could hamper their progress in the race.

While Mercedes struggled in the midfield, Ferrari and McLaren continued their charge towards Red Bull. Moreover, McLaren has reduced its deficit to only 30 points heading into the Italian GP. Thus, a lead change in the constructor’s standings could happen as early as Monza if McLaren has a flawless weekend and Red Bull has a torrid one.

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