2019 United States Grand Prix - Austin, 1-3 November

[foxmulder_ms]

For the average punter it's a bit harder to see when Lewis gets 4-5 more laps from the tyres than another driver as most people are just fixated on laptimes. It doesn't always translate to a win, but it's indicative of greater skill and control.
And in the early days he did rag the tyres pretty hard. Now he's the opposite.

There was an article a few years back in Autosport, where it was outlined how Lewis has given this notion to the world that he is a harder driver and less intelligent, but underneath, he is probably the most intelligent and adaptable driver for cars, tires, rules and racing situations. In Bridgestone days, you could put those tires through a great deal of stress but would survive and hence, a lot of drivers used them hard, includign Lewis. When 2014 cars came and with fuel restrictions, he was always the more economical driver, despite being faster than team mate who had to do a lot of lift and coast.

In 2017, he gave a glimpse of understanding post the US GP. At the start Vettel overtook him, but later got overtaken again after his tires gave away. Post the race Lewis mentioned that, when chasing Vettel, he observed that Vettel was attacking the turn 9 harder to stay ahead and Lewis quickly realized that it would kill Vettel's tires which was the case that allowed Lewis to overtake Vettel. So having that understanding of attacking some and going soft through some other sections of a track is critical to save the tyres, while the natural ability to carry more speed through the corners while lifting slightly early instead of breaking hard which reduces the stress on the tires is another aspect that have helped him.

I doubt that call was from him, 99% his engineer or team that makes those decisions. Especially if you hear him talking during the race, so unsecure I really doubt that.
Besides that don't make him bigger then he is. Great driver but then also in the greatest car ever in F1 without any competition from his teammate.

We are talking about Mercedes, not Ferrari where number 1 driver is in the contracts. I would've loved to see how Bottas or Nico would've competed in Ferrari.. Could they even have won a race??

[Wass85]

Actually, something on the race then.

The whole Mercedes team was standing ready, "Lewis Box Box Box", the tires already removed from the heaterblankets. Lewis ignores the team instruction "I feel I can extend"and stays out one more lap. Lewis ends the race on 1 lap fresher tires and has kept Bottas up during 2/3 of a lap increasing his chance of staying in front at the end of the race. Eyebrow raiser for me.

The million dollar question is would Lewis have had a better shot at the win on a two stopper, he would have had to have made up a number of seconds and passed Verstappen before attempting the same with the Finn. I think Bottas was faster yesterday so the likelihood was very unlikely.

[Sieper]

Lewis would have passed Max for sure. He was already pressuring him into the first stop as it stands and/whilst he had to make his tires last longer. Had he Been able to push more he would have passed Max in the first stint. Now, on a 1 stopper In the end Magnussen yellow flag saved him from a battle for position with Max. 2 stopper would have been better.Bottas we wont know. I think Lewis could have had him but would merc allow a fight.

[Wass85]

Lewis would have passed Max for sure. He was already pressuring him into the first stop as it stands and/whilst he had to make his tires last longer. Had he Been able to push more he would have passed Max in the first stint. Now, on a 1 stopper In the end Magnussen yellow flag saved him from a battle for position with Max. 2 stopper would have been better.Bottas we wont know. I think Lewis could have had him but would merc allow a fight.

I still don't understand why they didn't go for the undercut with Lewis in the first stint. I think it was a combination of planning a one stopper and Max making an early stop.

After that they probably felt the only chance he had for victory was to go long, Bottas' stint on the hards was mesmerising so I really think he was out of reach for Lewis no matter what he did.

[Wynters]

Great race from Bottas. Great pole and a flawless race, taking pace from the tyres exactly when he needed them and not putting a foot wrong.Just outstanding.

Bad luck for Vettel. It's going to be super close between him and Leclerc at the end of the season and I think that's going to be a crucial outcome for the pair of them that will have long reaching consequences within the team.

Solid drive from Verstappen, you could hear how much he wanted to overtake Hamilton in those last laps and I think he got pretty much everything he could get from the car. A great bounce back from Mexico and a return to his great 2019 form. Good drive from Albon too. Bad luck to get squeezed at the start. Racing incident exacerbated by the sausages that left Sainz nowhere to go. That intra-team battle also looks like it might go down to the wire, which is a great performance from him given how few laps he's done in the car, in his rookie season, and his unfamiliarity within the team. I think the media-presence of the drivers around him have overshadowed just how good he's been given his situation.

As for the WDC as a whole, this race probably encapsulates Hamilton's season. Mistakes earlier in the weekend rescued by an exemplary drive on the Sunday. A season that has already seen eight wins from somewhere other than Pole. At this stage in his career he is a remorseless points accumulator. I can't remember the last time he crashed out in fair conditions (and only one recent memory of him crashing out in the wet and, even then, he got points). I can't remember the last time he got an unnecessary penalty. I can't remember the last time he took a stupid risk overtaking someone (although that's more subjective). Has he made errors on a Sunday? Sure, Austria springs to mind (the only time he's finished outside of the top 4 in dry conditions this season, I believe). But, compared to his competitors...he's been a cut above. Putting all the rest of the bullshit aside, I can't think of a team boss who, if you put a gun to their head and said 'You must win the WDC & WCC in 2020' wouldn't want him in their car. If that's not a decent (non-points) metric for a Champion then I'm not sure what is.

[Wynters]

After that they probably felt the only chance he had for victory was to go long, Bottas' stint on the hards was mesmerising so I really think he was out of reach for Lewis no matter what he did.

Agreed. Bottas had pace in hand. He pulled four seconds out on Hamilton in the last couple of laps and I can't imagine he was stretching himself and his machinery to the max whilst doing it. A great drive.

[Wass85]

Just watched the highlights now, he had no chance of catching and passing Bottas. He only got the gap down to 11 seconds when Bottas made his final stop.

[Wass85]

After that they probably felt the only chance he had for victory was to go long, Bottas' stint on the hards was mesmerising so I really think he was out of reach for Lewis no matter what he did.

Agreed. Bottas had pace in hand. He pulled four seconds out on Hamilton in the last couple of laps and I can't imagine he was stretching himself and his machinery to the max whilst doing it. A great drive.

Yes he's really got on top of his race pace and tyre management towards the back end of the season. Let's see if he can continue this turn of form next year. He has the speed, he just needs to get the consistency sorted.

[NL_Fer]

Hamilton never had a chance on Bottas. To beat him, Hamilton has to fight Verstappen on track.

Probably Hamilton would overtake Verstappen, but his tyres would have been dead afterwards and Bottas already out of reach.

[Just_a_fan]

After that they probably felt the only chance he had for victory was to go long, Bottas' stint on the hards was mesmerising so I really think he was out of reach for Lewis no matter what he did.

Agreed. Bottas had pace in hand. He pulled four seconds out on Hamilton in the last couple of laps and I can't imagine he was stretching himself and his machinery to the max whilst doing it. A great drive.

Of course he was much quicker at the end - he was on fresher tyres of a quicker compound, was in clean air whilst Hamilton was defending against fresher tyre of a quicker compound whilst driving on old, slower compound tyres. It would have been amazing if Bottas hadn't pulled away easily.

If you look at the lap times, Hamilton was nearly as quick as Bottas in clear air whilst sat behind Max, then carried on at the same pace on worn tyres. Then when he went on to the C2, he was quicker than Bottas had been on his fresh C2 and was nearly as quick as Bottas on new C3. Indeed Hamilton's pace was amazingly uniform on both tyres showing he was managing them really well. If he'd been on a two stopper, he'd have been a lot quicker. If Bottas had been on the one stopper, he'd have been more than 4 seconds behind Hamilton at the end, that's for sure.

[Wass85]

After that they probably felt the only chance he had for victory was to go long, Bottas' stint on the hards was mesmerising so I really think he was out of reach for Lewis no matter what he did.

Agreed. Bottas had pace in hand. He pulled four seconds out on Hamilton in the last couple of laps and I can't imagine he was stretching himself and his machinery to the max whilst doing it. A great drive.

Of course he was much quicker at the end - he was on fresher tyres of a quicker compound, was in clean air whilst Hamilton was defending against fresher tyre of a quicker compound whilst driving on old, slower compound tyres. It would have been amazing if Bottas hadn't pulled away easily.

If you look at the lap times, Hamilton was nearly as quick as Bottas in clear air whilst sat behind Max, then carried on at the same pace on worn tyres. Then when he went on to the C2, he was quicker than Bottas had been on his fresh C2 and was nearly as quick as Bottas on new C3. Indeed Hamilton's pace was amazingly uniform on both tyres showing he was managing them really well. If he'd been on a two stopper, he'd have been a lot quicker. If Bottas had been on the one stopper, he'd have been more than 4 seconds behind Hamilton at the end, that's for sure.

You would have thought offset in tyre performance would level out though but Bottas had the pace and tyre management to pass Hamilton and pull a 4 second gap.

Bottas was managing his pace, when Verstappen pitted he pulled a gap on Hamilton before he boxed himself.

[Just_a_fan]

You would have thought offset in tyre performance would level out though but Bottas had the pace and tyre management to pass Hamilton and pull a 4 second gap.

Bottas was on fresher rubber, in clear air and not defending. Hamilton was on old, slower rubber, defending against a driver on fresher rubber. Of course Bottas pulled away. If he hadn't it would have been surprising.

Bottas was managing his pace, when Verstappen pitted he pulled a gap on Hamilton before he boxed himself.

You do know that Hamilton was quicker on the C2 for almost all of Bottas's C2 stint, yes? Even though Bottas was short stinting them. Oh, you didn't know that? That explains it then.

Bottas was quicker than Hamilton when Bottas went on to C2 because Hamilton was staying out on old C3. As soon as Hamilton went on to C2, he was quicker than Bottas had been on that tyre. Indeed, he was quicker on that tyre for more laps than Bottas even though Bottas didn't need to manage them nearly as much.

If they'd both done a one stopper, Hamilton would have beaten Bottas by virtue of better tyre management. Bottas was given the better race strategy because he did a better qualifying lap. If the situations were reversed, I have no doubt that Bottas would have finished third at best.

[Wass85]

You would have thought offset in tyre performance would level out though but Bottas had the pace and tyre management to pass Hamilton and pull a 4 second gap.

Bottas was on fresher rubber, in clear air and not defending. Hamilton was on old, slower rubber, defending against a driver on fresher rubber. Of course Bottas pulled away. If he hadn't it would have been surprising.

Bottas was managing his pace, when Verstappen pitted he pulled a gap on Hamilton before he boxed himself.

You do know that Hamilton was quicker on the C2 for almost all of Bottas's C2 stint, yes? Even though Bottas was short stinting them. Oh, you didn't know that? That explains it then.

Bottas was quicker than Hamilton when Bottas went on to C2 because Hamilton was staying out on old C3. As soon as Hamilton went on to C2, he was quicker than Bottas had been on that tyre. Indeed, he was quicker on that tyre for more laps than Bottas even though Bottas didn't need to manage them nearly as much.

If they'd both done a one stopper, Hamilton would have beaten Bottas by virtue of better tyre management. Bottas was given the better race strategy because he did a better qualifying lap. If the situations were reversed, I have no doubt that Bottas would have finished third at best.

You still can't grasp the fact that Bottas still had to go a fair distance on the mediums and pass Hamilton to get the victory.

You do know that Hamilton was likely quicker on the hards because he had fresher tyres whilst they were running them at the same time?

[El Scorchio]

We have to consider amongst this that Hamilton started 5th while Bottas started on pole. He was already at quite the disadvantage and did a brilliant job to get himself into contention. Given no race changing incidents to help him get close to Bottas or flip the race on it's head, just to be in with a shout for the win was a great bit of driving. Of course it's impossible to say but I'm not sure any other driver could have pulled off that strategy under the parameters of that race- in a Merc or otherwise.

Credit to both of them in fact- Bottas did what he had to do. Max also put up a good fight so well done to him for third.

Enjoyable race.

[rogazilla]

Bottas was in a league of his own. One stopper was really the only chance for Hamilton and it was a tough one. In the end he did manage his tire enough to just hold off Max (help of yellow flag to avoid a track battle). Great driving by all top 3 though, each has its own race to manage. In comparison, Max was closer to Hamilton in term of race pace and the attempted undercut was responded by Mercedez but I don't think he had the pace on Hard to hold off Bottas anyway. Remember Hamilton starts 4 paces back from Bottas and that has to factor in their strategy planning.

Max may have a better shot at Medium > Medium > Soft in hindsight. Maybe. On passing Hamilton