‘We should have been on the softs,’ Lewis Hamilton expresses disagreement with the team’s tyre choices after another fruitless race in Mexico

‘We should have been on the softs,’ Lewis Hamilton expresses disagreement with the team’s tyre choices after another fruitless race in Mexico

Lewis Hamilton in a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix (Images through IMAGO / HochZwei)

It was a good result for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in Mexico, with the Briton finishing second behind Max Verstappen, and George Russell finishing fourth. Ferrari had a ‘disappointing’ but clean race and they finished 5th and 6th, which means that the Silver Arrows have cut down the gap to Ferrari to 40 points. Moreover, Lewis Hamilton has eclipsed Carlos Sainz in the standings, by 4 points.

But it could’ve been even better. Hamilton (who started on the mediums) jumped his teammate at the start and kept Verstappen (who started on the softs) in his sight. But after their respective pitstops, with Hamilton going onto the hards, he could not keep up with the pace of the Dutchman, and the tyre degradation of the medium tyre wasn’t as Mercedes were hoping.

https://youtu.be/earJf6NcmaQ

And ultimately, the seven-time world champion feels that they should have started on the soft tyres: “I think so. When I was on the medium tyre there wasn’t really any degradation when they pulled me in. So, I think ultimately, we should have been on the softs. It’s something I had asked and questioned.” according to Formula 1’s official website.

FS Video

Except for Mercedes, both of the other top three teams started on the soft tyres, something Lewis Hamilton remarked on: “I thought maybe one of the two Mercedes should have a soft to be able to attack. So, when both Red Bulls and everyone behind took their tyres off I thought shoot.” While there is no saying that Hamilton would have had a chance for the win if the tyre decisions went how he wanted, it is a distinct possibility.

Also Read: “This is the best qualifying all year,” Lewis Hamilton ecstatic after landing W13 in P3 for Mexican GP

Lewis Hamilton expresses his gratitude to Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton

In any case, this was Mercedes’ best qualifying performance of the season, even if they came up second-best to Max Verstappen once again, who stormed to a record 14th victory in the season. While the victory was unfortunately out of reach for Lewis Hamilton, he expressed his gratitude to the team regardless.

He thought the race pace was quite good, it was just that the tyre selection was off: “Nonetheless to be this close [to the win], to have two seconds back-to-back, I’m so, so proud and so grateful to the team. I think the race pace was generally quite good it was just; we were offset on tyres most of the time.”

The next race is in Brazil, the São Paulo Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton has won thrice before, including a famous win in Brazil, where he came back from P20 in the sprint, and P10 in the race to triumph over Max Verstappen. Can Hamilton and co. stop Verstappen from a record-extending 15th victory of the season? We shall find out.

Also Read: “I was always taught that you have to respect what people have achieved in sport,” Max Verstappen responds to claim that Lewis Hamilton doesn’t use his name in interviews

Also Read: “I think he has many more years in him,” Toto Wolff certain Lewis Hamilton will stay in F1 for a long time just like the prolific Fernando Alonso