2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Luscion]

Welp, looks like the plan was to let Lewis through into turn one but they messed it up

[Spoutnik]

Lewis saying on his IG story it's 100% his fault. Again I believe he's way too polite with this situation at Merc even if he has some responsability for what happened today. In the opposite scenario I believe he would've backed off to make room for George to let him overtake Verstappen.

Regarding the WDC, Alonso finished P6, and Perez was nowhere so it doesn't matter. In the WCC fortunately Sainz DNS. Let's say at some point Lewis "had" to DNF, he maximized the result with this car so much this year really.

Regarding Merc pace I don't think it was as good as people try to make it.
Russell wasn't faster than the Merc. And the McLaren were close to Verstappen but he was clearly managing and RB had a really slow last stop. Still FL on the last lap for Max.

[Luscion]

Welp, looks like the plan was to let Lewis through into turn one but they messed it up

[dans79]

Where was George expected to go when he had his front wheel alongside Max's rear wheel?

Like I said earlier break like a meter earlier so your teammate clears, then lift and swing wide and follow him.

It's pretty clear that had there not been contact Lewis would have been partially if not fully ahead of Max at corner exit. That would have given george the inside line for turn 2.

[Spoutnik]

[chrisc90]

Where was George expected to go when he had his front wheel alongside Max's rear wheel?

Like I said earlier break like a meter earlier so your teammate clears, then lift and swing wide and follow him.

It's pretty clear that had there not been contact Lewis would have been partially if not fully ahead of Max at corner exit. That would have given george the inside line for turn 2.

I really dont think there should be a 'parting of the seas' to allow Lewis through.

I mean if George was level with Max heading down the straight for whatever reason, it completely throws Lewis ahead into T1 anyhow.

If that was the strategy they were to take, they should have started the lead car on softs. We all know Lewis had a mega tyre disadvantage however.

Lewis turned in too sharply in front of George, top and bottom of it. Lewis admitted his mistake and takes the full responsibility. Why people need to try and defend something the driver admits as fault is beyond me.

In other news, id have been shocked if Lewis' softs lasted him more than 4 laps.

[Spoutnik]

Where was George expected to go when he had his front wheel alongside Max's rear wheel?

Like I said earlier break like a meter earlier so your teammate clears, then lift and swing wide and follow him.

It's pretty clear that had there not been contact Lewis would have been partially if not fully ahead of Max at corner exit. That would have given george the inside line for turn 2.

I really dont think there should be a 'parting of the seas' to allow Lewis through.

I mean if George was level with Max heading down the straight for whatever reason, it completely throws Lewis ahead into T1 anyhow.

If that was the strategy they were to take, they should have started the lead car on softs. We all know Lewis had a mega tyre disadvantage however.

Lewis turned in too sharply in front of George, top and bottom of it. Lewis admitted his mistake and takes the full responsibility. Why people need to try and defend something the driver admits as fault is beyond me.

In other news, id have been shocked if Lewis' softs lasted him more than 4 laps.

Russell was 80 pts behind Hamilton at the start of this race, and was starting on harder tyre. What's the point of fighting, he would've never get Verstappen on this first corner because Verstappen had a good start...
That's the point.

It has to be discussed even if Lewis admitted his fault.
Like.. I mean.. Singapore where both drivers were put on the same strategy and Lewis was clearly faster but end up stuck behind George.

There's the turn 1 incident where Lewis made a little mistake, but the bigger mistake is that i) George only target seem to finish ahead of Lewis ii) Merc 100% equality approach is totally inefficient (McLaren in the last two races showed how to managed it)

[chrisc90]

So on the other hand..... Lewis seen that George and Max both got a good start, so what did he think his chances of outbraking/cornering them both into/through T1 would have been?

Starting on the soft tyre ahead of 2 cars ahead on the medium tyre is praying that the cars ahead get a poor start (probably similar to the sprint yesterday) and being able to take advantage.

Once the others infront get a good start, your plan of being able to leapfrog them both at the start goes out the window. Therefore you should yield and make your attack elsewhere on the first lap.

[dans79]

I really dont think there should be a 'parting of the seas' to allow Lewis through.

If that was the strategy they were to take, they should have started the lead car on softs. We all know Lewis had a mega tyre disadvantage however.

Imo, it's pretty simple to understand. Lewis had the worse tire allocation, so he would start on softs and try and take the lead build any amount of gap that he could before the tires went off. George either follows Lewis past if he can, or does what he can to keep his tires within their limits as he had the better allocation.

Lewis admitted his mistake and takes the full responsibility. Why people need to try and defend something the driver admits as fault is beyond me.

Imo, he is taking one for the team and to protect Georges fairly fragile ego. I mean look at the tweats above.....

[Hammerfist]

Where was George expected to go when he had his front wheel alongside Max's rear wheel?

Like I said earlier break like a meter earlier so your teammate clears, then lift and swing wide and follow him.

It's pretty clear that had there not been contact Lewis would have been partially if not fully ahead of Max at corner exit. That would have given george the inside line for turn 2.

I really dont think there should be a 'parting of the seas' to allow Lewis through.

I mean if George was level with Max heading down the straight for whatever reason, it completely throws Lewis ahead into T1 anyhow.

If that was the strategy they were to take, they should have started the lead car on softs. We all know Lewis had a mega tyre disadvantage however.

Lewis turned in too sharply in front of George, top and bottom of it. Lewis admitted his mistake and takes the full responsibility. Why people need to try and defend something the driver admits as fault is beyond me.

In other news, id have been shocked if Lewis' softs lasted him more than 4 laps.

Not sure why they thought starting on softs was the right thing to do. Did they not watch the sprint race? And yes if the idea was to overtake max at the start then surely george should have been on the softs snd not lewis. Makes little sense.

[RonMexico]

Serious mental gymnastics going on here. Hamilton admitted fault!

[Hammerfist]

I really dont think there should be a 'parting of the seas' to allow Lewis through.

If that was the strategy they were to take, they should have started the lead car on softs. We all know Lewis had a mega tyre disadvantage however.

Imo, it's pretty simple to understand. Lewis had the worse tire allocation, so he would start on softs and try and take the lead build any amount of gap that he could before the tires went off. George either follows Lewis past if he can, or does what he can to keep his tires within their limits as he had the better allocation.

Lewis admitted his mistake and takes the full responsibility. Why people need to try and defend something the driver admits as fault is beyond me.

Imo, he is taking one for the team and to protect Georges fairly fragile ego. I mean look at the tweats above.....

If they actually thought lewis could build a gap while on soft tires after they watched the sprint race yesterday and saw what happened to the soft runners then they are even more inept than i thought.

[chrisc90]

Those tweets/analysis relied on Max/George getting a poor start on the mediums.

As I said, Both GR and MV got a decent start - therefore that tactic goes out the window immediately.

This wasnt the sprint race where the mediums were a sitting duck against the soft tyre runners. The track was more rubbered in. Maybe Merc/LH thought it would be a repeat of yesterdays start.

[dans79]

If they actually thought lewis could build a gap while on soft tires after they watched the sprint race yesterday and saw what happened to the soft runners then they are even more inept than i thought.

Considering his compromised tire allocation it was his best bet. Pass try and build any gap you can and hope the grid spreads out so you don't take a big penalty for pitting early, or hope for a safety car thats lets him stretch the tires in the hopes of not having to run the hards.

[dans79]

Those tweets/analysis relied on Max/George getting a poor start on the mediums.

As I said, Both GR and MV got a decent start - therefore that tactic goes out the window immediately.

This wasnt the sprint race where the mediums were a sitting duck against the soft tyre runners. The track was more rubbered in. Maybe Merc/LH thought it would be a repeat of yesterdays start.

Video footage suggests if there hadn't been contact he overtakes them both.