Mercedes' tactical mistake in Zandvoort

"We stood outside and waited too long. This was the wrong choice and it's a pity, because our car has a very good speed," Mercedes team leader Toto Wolff said after the race in Zandvoort today. August 27

Hamilton even affirmed that he was capable of competing with Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso - the two leading drivers - at Zandvoort. "I'm not saying I can beat them, but if it weren't for bad decisions, I think Mercedes could keep up with the two leading drivers."

The situation at the Dutch Grand Prix soon became unfavorable for Hamilton right from the qualifying round on the afternoon of August 26. He struggled to warm up the intermediate tires, then was stopped by Yuki Tsunoda in the final run of Q2. Therefore, the British racer could only get the right to start 13th.

Last year at the Zandvoort racetrack, Mercedes used a 1-pit strategy, even though the 2-pit strategy was predicted to be optimal. The choice of the German racing team at that time worked effectively until the virtual safety car was deployed. Without the virtual safety car, Hamilton and teammate George Russell could have finished and occupied the top two positions at the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix.

This year, Hamilton plans to use a 1-pit strategy: starting with medium tires before returning to the pit to switch to using hard tires until the end of the race. The British racer was the only one to choose medium tires at the start. If there are no changes, it is easy for Hamilton to create a mutation.

However, the complicated reality in the main race made Mercedes' calculations meaningless. Signs of rain appeared before the race started, and accordingly, there will be rain right in the first lap. According to Mercdes' analysis, the rain intensity is small and lasts only a few minutes. And so, the most effective strategy for the German racing team is to still use dry weather tires even when it rains, thereby saving 2 pit stops, with a total time of about 40 seconds.

However, the rain was heavier and lasted longer than Mercedes expected. The rain came at the end of the first lap at Turn 13 and Turn 14 and quickly covered the track. Some drivers such as Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly decided to pit right away, when they had not yet reached the pit entrance. This turned out to be the best option at the time.

Other drivers such as Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz returned to the pit at the end of the second round, when the mechanics had finished preparing the tires. This option will lose about 16 seconds compared to changing tires in the first round. That's just the difference in time to make a lap between using a soft tire versus using an intermediate tire in the second lap.

But even though it was slow, returning to change tires on lap two turned out to be better than continuing to run out on the track with dry weather tires (non-slotted tires) like drivers Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg. The choice of these three drivers, despite saving a total of about 40 seconds for the two pit stops, caused them to lag about 60 seconds in the time difference between using the two types of tires up to round seven, when the weather was bad. dry enough for the treadless tire to work properly.

But about the pit change to the intermediate tire in the third round or later is the worst solution. At this point, the driver takes an additional 40 seconds for two pits plus a loss of time in the treadless phase. However, this is the choice of two Mercedes drivers, and Lando Norris's MCL60.

With this choice, Hamilton dropped to last, but the British driver still overcame difficulties to climb to the middle group and then approached Carlons Sainz to compete for 5th place. However, the rain at the end of the race caused Hamilton to encounter It is difficult when the DRS spoiler is not allowed to be used to ensure safety. This disadvantage makes Mercedes drivers helpless when trying to overtake opponents on the very short straight tracks at Zandvoort.

Sixth place at the finish line is clearly a result that makes both Hamilton and the entire Mercedes team unhappy. "We saw at the end of the race that George had the same speed as Max, and Lewis was very strong behind Sainz. We could have gone much further. I'm sad because the result was really bad. What happened What happened today is very unpredictable. We will carefully review everything," Toto Wolf added.