Lewis Hamilton and George Russell started on medium tires. Mercedes F1 hoped this would lead to a stronger racing strategy and secure victory over the Red Bulls, who started the race on soft tires.
However, with the choice of the Mercedes F1 medium-hard tire strategy, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell complained about the lack of pace on the hard tires in the second stint.
Meanwhile, the Red Bulls, which have opted for a soft to medium tire strategy, have not succumbed to the excessive degradation expected by the Mercedes F1.
Eventually, Lewis Hamilton finished second, 15 seconds behind Max Verstappen. He missed another chance to win his first F1 victory of the season.
The Mercedes F1 driver asked for an extended stint on the medium tire, which could have paved the way for a smoother ride in the final stages of the race, but Mercedes kept the planned strategy.
After the race, Hamilton was asked if the Mercedes F1 team had considered extending the stint on the medium tire and using the soft tire at the end of the race.
“I kept saying the tires were fine, but I guess they came from my window,” said Lewis Hamilton.
“Sergio[Perez]he had already stopped, so he was probably a lot faster than me. “
“So if we had stayed longer, we would have been behind Sergio and everything would have ended. I think that’s why.”
The Mercedes F1 team’s efforts to overtake Max Verstappen were thwarted at the start when George Russell fell from second to fourth at the first corner of the race.
George Russell failed to regain his position and ended up behind Perez who took last place on the podium.
Lewis Hamilton went on to explain that Sergio Perez’s starting third place meant the Mercedes F1 team missed the opportunity to work together to challenge Max Verstappen.
“Unfortunately at the beginning we were clearly fighting well in turns 1 and 2, but my teammate was overwhelmed by Sergio. Basically Red Bull was tag teaming.”
“The strategy is very difficult without both cars. Sergio entered and I think he managed to pull me in. He definitely hindered our strategy.”
Category: F1 / Lewis Hamilton / mercedes / F1 Mexican Grand Prix
