Formula 1

Wolff and Shovlin happy after Mercedes strategy masterclass in Spain

3 Mins read
Credit: Steve Etherington

Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team pulled off an unbelievable strategy to give Lewis Hamilton the tyres to hunt down Max Verstappen and move within two race wins of number one hundred!

After falling behind Verstappen on the opening lap, Hamilton stuck right behind the Red Bull Racing driver both before and after the opening pit-stops. It was then on lap forty-two that Mercedes went for the gamble of pitting Hamilton again, which put him twenty-two seconds behind Verstappen but on much fresher tyres.

It was then down to Hamilton to get the job done, which he did in the style of a seven-time world champion, closing a couple of seconds nearly every lap on Verstappen. In the closing stages Hamilton opened the DRS and stormed past Verstappen to take win number ninety-eight of his F1 career.

Valtteri Bottas brought home a lonely third place after falling behind the Scuderia Ferrari of Charles Leclerc on the first lap, but eventually got past the Ferrari driver after the opening round of pit-stops.

Team Principal Toto Wolff was full of praise for the strategists back in Brackley, who ultimately gave Hamilton the strategy for victory.

Credit: Daimler AG

“I think we had a quick car, but when you lose position on the first lap it puts you on the back foot. It was difficult for Red Bull as the car in front to make the right decision on strategy, being in second it’s easier if you have the gap to make the call that we did today.”
 
“When you look at qualifying, there were three cars within a tenth, you never know who’s going to be in front. I hope it’s going to remain like this till the end of the season – it’s just what the sport needs and we’re enjoying this fight.”
 

“Today was brilliant work from the team back home, it was our Head of Race Strategy, Rosie’s, last race before going on maternity leave and I’m so proud. It was a bold move, and when you see the gap open up to more than 20 seconds, you think there’s no way you’ll catch up. We saw Max’s tyres suffered more than ours, and we were able to stay close. The planner actually showed we’d catch Max with one lap to go but we got there with four!”
 
“The guys and girls in the team are doing a really good job, even on the days we lose, we learn and the mindset is right. When our car is not quick enough, we are still able to extrapolate good performances. We we never rest, never have any sense of entitlement – in two weeks it can swing in the other direction and then it will be a weekend to learn.”

“The atmosphere was fantastic and I really need to take my hat off from the group of strategists led by James and all the group back in Brackley, they are just fantastic.”

“Congratulations to Lewis on another well-deserved win!” – Shovlin

Credit: Daimler AG

Mercedes Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin was also full of praise for Hamilton and the team, who proved yet again why they are the team to beat. Mercedes didn’t only have the best car during the race but they also and arguably more importantly had the best strategist.

Shovlin highlights that the car seems to be stronger over long-runs, giving Mercedes work to do before the Monaco Grand Prix in a fortnight.

“Congratulations to Lewis on another well-deserved win! A good day’s work by the team and drivers but it felt like a lot of effort to get back to where we started. Both drivers dropped positions off the line; we didn’t have a particular issue on Lewis’s side, he just lost a bit in clear air and ended up on the left where you can get pushed wide.”

“Valtteri got a bit boxed in with Lewis going into turn 3 and lost to Leclerc on the outside. We knew overtaking on-track was going to be a long shot on the same age tyres but at least we could sit close enough to Max to force him in early and with Valtteri, to go for the undercut on Charles.”
 
“Going into the race, we thought a one-stop would be much easier to complete than it turned out to be but I don’t think we were alone going in with that mindset. That’s largely down to the short sessions, with less time to do our homework but at least the scene was set for the alternative strategy to take the win as many cars were dropping off at the end.”
 
“Our pace has been pretty solid this weekend, although we still seem to be relatively better on the long runs than the single lap and in Monaco, it’s mainly about single lap performance. That’s always a challenging weekend to get right but it’s a great race and we’re looking forward to going back there after the gap in 2020.”

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