Mercedes may have made the mistake of going against Valtteri Bottas for the second time in France. And the Brackley outfit ended up in a similar situation in Styria. But only this time a second stop might have dashed Bottas’ hopes of regaining third place from Sergio Perez.
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The same was true for Lewis Hamilton, who at times lost hope of beating Max Verstappen. This was the second time he pitted to secure the fastest lap point.
However, James Vowles, Mercedes’s strategy director, revealed that the team consistently planned a two-stop strategy with Bottas and Hamilton throughout the race.
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What did the Mercedes strategy director say?
Mercedes posted a video on YouTube in which Vowles responded to certain questions from fans. One of them wondered why Lewis’ second pit stop didn’t come earlier and possibly opened the floodgates for a late attack on Verstappen.
“It was a consideration not only for Lewis but also for Valtteri throughout the race. The problem is that the undercut force was pretty small there, about a second and a half, ”he said.
“If you look at this race pace, you can see that we have fallen so far behind compared to Verstappen that we weren’t close enough to make a successful two-stop.”
Ultimately, Hamilton Perez stole the fastest lap point on the very last lap of the race and denied Verstappen any chance to develop a counter-strategy and get this point from the British.
What would have happened if Bottas pitted before Perez?
Of course, Perez pitted with around 15 laps in his pocket. If he hadn’t done that, however, Mercedes could have developed a strategy with Bottas similar to that of Verstappen against Hamilton at Le Castellet. Would that have worked for Bottas at the Red Bull Ring?
James doesn’t think so.
Formula 1 F1 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan – June 5, 2021 Mercedes-Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes-Valtteri Bottas in the pits during the qualifying pool via REUTERS / Maxim Shemetov
“Perez had a bit of a pace advantage over Valtteri,” he said. “The meaning of this is that if we converted it to a 2-stop, we would bring Valtteri back to fourth from that podium position.
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“And we just don’t have the pace to catch up and overtake.”
Overall, it was a bittersweet weekend for Mercedes, even though both drivers gave their best with the strategy. But the tempo deficit against Red Bull prevented the Silver Arrows from taking their usual risks.
Can Mercedes reduce the gap to its rivals with the Austrian GP around the corner and possibly challenge them for P1?
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View history: Lewis Hamilton’s biggest F1 crashes
The post REVEALED: Why Mercedes F1 ignored the 2-stop strategy for both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas first appeared on monter-une-startup.
