Lewis Hamilton admitted his extra pit stop in Brazil was a risk he wouldn’t have taken if the championship had still been on the line.
The Mercedes driver pitted during a late Safety Car period and fell from second to fourth. That left him with only two laps of green flag running to catch race leader Max Verstappen. Hamilton collided with Alexander Albon while trying to recover, and earned a penalty which left him seventh.“It’s not a major drama for us,” said Hamilton. “I don’t think it would have happened if we were fighting for the championship.”
He said the team had gone into the race intending to take more risks as both the championships had already been decided. “We were experimenting, trying to be a little bit more risky. It didn’t pay off but it’s good for us to go through those experiences.
“We’ve probably learned more from that weekend than we did perhaps the couple of weekends before where things generally went relatively smooth sailing.”
The team told Hamilton he would only lose one place if he pitted, which turned out to be wrong. “I took decision in the end to come in, I was given the option, but also I was given slightly the wrong information where I’d come out,” said Hamilton.
“Then there’s other things that followed like the Safety Car stayed out longer, all those kind of things. Naturally, hindsight is always a great thing, so you would go back and you’d probably change it.
“But I don’t regret the decision we made as I said because we’ve learned a lot that we can implement into this weekend and into next year.”
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Only Facts!
29th November 2019, 8:16
It would have worked if Hamilton passed Albon 3 corners later. He would be back in second with fresh tyres. No points lost.
But fighting for first was out of range by that time.
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
29th November 2019, 13:56
To me it seems the mentality at Mercedes post championship confirmation is win or bust. Trundling around protecting an easy 2nd place seems to be of no interest to them at this moment in time. Glad they have taken that mentality though, added some excitement to the Brazilian GP.