By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief Motorsport.com
The Turkish Grand Prix was Formula 1’s latest trial by water and, coming so soon after Lando Norris was bitten by the rainfall in Russia, Lewis Hamilton was the latest driver to be faced with a race-defining tyre decision in Turkey.
At the time, I was on Lewis’s side over staying out as Mercedes called him in – he felt good in the car, staying out on the ‘slicktermediates’ were the right call here last season and pitting was going to cost him valuable points to title rival Max Verstappen. But now it’s clear that Mercedes was right – his tyres that came off his car were in way-worse shape than 2020 and those final eight laps could have put him in a world of woe.
Hitting a cliff in terms of tyre grip is what everyone fears and looking at Esteban Ocon’s time loss – 18s to Lance Stroll in the final five laps – was almost a pitstop delta anyway but without the risk of a tyre failure. His right-front was totally ruined as he returned to the pits, with a big chunk of tread missing.
The title was never going to be won at this race but it might well have been lost. And Lewis knows only too well about losing a gamble on staying out too long on inters on a drying track, from China 2007 ... |
|---|
|
|
|
Received this email from a friend? Sign up to receive the INSIDER Newsletter from Motorsport.com which includes the latest news and inside views, direct from the experts. |
|
|
|
|
