Lewis Hamilton believes that the only way to beat Max Verstappen to win the British Grand Prix is with a better strategy from his Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The world champion was beaten to victory in F1’s first sprint qualifying race on Saturday as he was unable to keep up with his Red Bull rival after the first few laps.
This form gave Hamilton no illusions that Mercedes would have to be in top form in its strategy calls at Silverstone on Sunday in order to find a way around its main competitor.
“I think He [Verstappen] He had a lot of speed and I don’t think he had to push hard and we were full throttle, “said Hamilton.” It’s going to be tough.
“If I can try to somehow keep up with them in the stints, maybe we can apply pressure through strategy – but we won’t overtake them on the track: they are just too fast, hopefully game.”
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff agrees that Red Bull and Mercedes are hardly separated from each other in terms of pace, which puts the burden on a strategic decision.
But one of the biggest advantages of his team is that they have two cars up front because Red Bull’s Sergio Perez starts at the back after his spin in the sprint race.
“I think we have pace,” said Wolff, referring to the performance of the Mercedes against the Red Bull in the sprint race.
“If Lewis had held the position at the beginning, I think we would have driven pretty much the same race, just with a Mercedes in front. That means we were the same in performance.
“With two cars on site, you can split the strategies, you can drive for a long time, you can try to overlap, you can undercut, start with different tires. That is certainly a big advantage.”
One fascinating difference between the Red Bull and Mercedes cars is the wing-level settings for the race – with both teams going in different directions.
Red Bull opted for a high downforce solution to get better performance in the corners, while Mercedes opted for less drag to be faster on the straights.
Verstappen believes that his solution may not be the best as it puts him at risk of being overtaken.
“It seems like we are fast through the corners and they are fast on the straights this weekend,” he explained. “Of course you can’t make any changes after a free practice session and if you don’t do it right then you get a little stuck. So I think we’re a bit stuck on the straights, so that’s why we have to make up our time in the corners. “
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