Lewis Hamilton said he was “so angry” with his team’s decision to put him on the soft tyres at the start of last weekend’s race.
The Mercedes driver fell from third on the grid to finish sixth. His team mate George Russell, who started alongside him on the medium rubber, was one of the three drivers who gained a place from him during the race.Hamilton said Mercedes raised the possibility of splitting the strategies between their two drivers after they locked out the second row of the grid in qualifying on Saturday. He said he argued against it, but was overruled.
“We sat in our meeting in the morning of the race – actually the night before they already mentioned that they would like to split the cars – and for me, I was a bit perplexed by it,” Hamilton explained at an event in Kuala Lumpur for Mercedes sponsor Petronas.
“In the past when we’ve been in that position, normally, if George has qualified well like he normally does that and I’m out of the top 10 or something then we will split the strategies. But when we were so close, it didn’t make sense to me.
“So I battled as hard as I could to fight to go on the medium tyre but the team continued to suggest that I start on the soft. And then they took the tyre blankets off and everyone was on mediums.”
Hamilton was the only driver in the top 13 to start the race on anything other than the medium rubber. He said he was “so angry” over the decision.
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“Already from that moment I’m frustrated,” said Hamilton. “Then I tried my best to keep up with the guys ahead, they were too fast. And then I just tried to make that tyre last as long as I could.
“I had to [pit] on lap 17. I knew from that moment that the race was done for me because the hard tyre was going to be a struggle in that heat.
“We’ve been struggling with the balance of the car all weekend, so we’ve been changing so many different things. We got a good qualifying but unfortunately the race was a bit too much of a struggle for us.”
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Russell said he knew Hamilton would be dissatisfied with Mercedes’ strategy choice. “When I saw that, I was thinking, ‘Lewis won’t be happy’,” he said.
This was the sixth race this year in which Mercedes started their drivers on different tyre compounds. On the one previous occasion where the drivers started in consecutive positions on different compounds, in Miami, the driver ahead also started on softer rubber. On that occasion it was Russell.
Mercedes’ differences in starting tyres in 2024
| Lewis Hamilton | George Russell | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Position | Compound | Position | Compound |
| Australian Grand Prix | 11th | Soft | 7th | Medium |
| Chinese Grand Prix | 18th | Soft | 8th | Medium |
| Miami Grand Prix | 8th | Hard | 7th | Medium |
| Hungarian Grand Prix | 5th | Medium | 17th | Hard |
| Dutch Grand Prix | 14th | Soft | 4th | Medium |
| Singapore Grand Prix | 3rd | Soft | 4th | Medium |
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2024 Singapore Grand Prix
- Ricciardo’s brake woe and why Perez thought he had an engine problem: Singapore GP radio
- ‘Perez is only quicker when he has DRS’: How Hulkenberg’s Haas beat a Red Bull – again
- Mercedes explain “clear mistake” strategy call which left Hamilton “so angry”
- “Sometimes I wonder why I do this”: How Hamilton endured a slog to sixth in Singapore
- F1’s rules need surgery as well as sticking plaster after fastest lap controversy
Tiaki Porangi
24th September 2024, 10:27
Wow.
What else can one say?
Moi
24th September 2024, 11:09
Yawn?
Nick T.
24th September 2024, 14:06
Yup + so many silly things not being pointed out:
-They knew softs was not a good strategy if he stayed in third, but the idea was clearly to gamble on having a shot at 2nd place by getting past Max at the start using the softs. Had it worked, he would’ve been able to hold up Max for a long, long time. Likely until close to Max’s pit window w/each playing chicken on the undercut.
-Also, by starting with the soft they gave themselves a lot more options if an SC came out at a good time because they would have good data on the hards and mediums, which could have put them in the pounce seat.
-Mercedes is not making Lewis doing anything he doesn’t want to. He likely voiced some concerns, but was attracted by the idea of going for broke and agreed. Otherwise, he would’ve simply said no. But since it didn’t work, now he was always against it. Lewis isn’t interested in safe and solid thirds or fourths. He knew the above chances starting on soft gave him and he gambled.
-Finally, the reason they pitted so early was that they thought the Mercedes’ lack luster pace was due to the softs and would be solved by the hards. Had they known the car was just off the pace no matter what, they would have left him out.
Kevin Charles
24th September 2024, 14:56
Agreed. I am a fan of Hamilton’s but surely he would have had veto on the strategy. I will admit, I thought it was an odd choice at the time and proved to be one.
David BR (@david-br)
24th September 2024, 18:05
Hamilton a strategy he didn’t want. There’s no evidence for your assertion that he was ‘going for broke.’ The more reasonable explanation is that he says, nope, bad idea, but if the team he insists, he responds ‘whatever’. It’s not a fight he’s interested in having any more, given he’s leaving. As for why the team foisted this strategy, they don’t care. Sure maybe Norris and Verstappen had bad starts and Hamilton jumps ahead and stays there for a few laps until he has to pit. No sense at all. The only explanation that makes sense is the team wanting Russell ahead.
Nick T.
25th September 2024, 2:26
Sure, the only scenario that makes sense is Mercedes favoring Russell, the red headed step child they haven’t even given a new contract to. If Lewis really felt the strategy was wrong, but didn’t care enough to insist on a strategy change that’s on him. It wouldn’t require a yelling match, especially with Bono’s position in the team.
While there’s no evidence he or the team wasn’t going for broke, there’s equally no evidence they were intentionally putting him on a bad strategy in order to, what, help GR in his WDC battle against who exactly?
David BR (@david-br)
25th September 2024, 15:31
Like I said elsewhere, it’s maybe more contra-Hamilton than pro-Russell. Hamilton effectively left Mercedes in February and probably needs to be kept out of the loop on a number of topics, which also tends to manifest as a submerged hostility (he’s now a F1 rival). I realize everyone is and will claim to be a ‘professional’, totally correct, but these undercurrents play into team decisions without having to be made explicit.
Ibk
24th September 2024, 19:56
Every single drivers during the free practice called the soft tyre absolute joke, I was gobsmacked ,on seeing Lewis on soft , Lewis last season with mercedes ll be like a nightmare ,toto know exactly what he was up to sabotage
AlanD
25th September 2024, 16:38
Nick: “Otherwise, he would’ve simply said no”
What makes you think that any driver can simply say no to the strategy the team wants to run. They spend a small fortune on data collection and race simulation analysis so that they can predict the optimum strategy for that car on that track on that day. They are not going to disregard all that because a driver says “Mmm,…. no, my gut feeling is that we should start on this tyre instead”. Its not like he can put the tyres on the car himself. I would agree that some teams pay more attention to some driver instincts than others, but I can’t imagine any of the teams allowing the driver to have the final say.
ben
24th September 2024, 13:35
What could it be, it’s a mirage
You’re scheming on a thing, that’s sabotage
Nick T.
24th September 2024, 14:30
or “It might could be an illusion.” as the great Sensei Seagal literally + famously said in one of his straight to DVD-R “movies.”
Dennis
24th September 2024, 19:26
When you rule out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbably, must be the truth!
Ibk
24th September 2024, 19:51
Mercedes is full of nonsense since Lewis announced his departure
BLS (@brightlampshade)
24th September 2024, 10:33
It felt a pretty foolish idea to be honest. I could understand the logic of starting one of them on Mediums and one on Hards, but starting on softs to then drop back into traffic on a hard overtaking track just feels idiotic.
Pretty short run to T1 so the advantage of a soft start is negated even further.
Patrick (@paeschli)
24th September 2024, 12:35
The only offset in strategy that would have made sense was starting Hamilton in the medium. Even if he lost a place due to a slow start, it would still have been a Mercedes 3-4 after the first lap. Russell would then try to keep up with the two ahead while Hamilton nursed his tyres through the first stint.
Patrick (@paeschli)
24th September 2024, 12:36
*Hamilton on the hards at the start
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
24th September 2024, 11:43
I think the decision made some sense if they assumed the race would play out like it has in recent years – the leaders park the bus for the first stint, so drivers aren’t pushing and then even the soft tyres could have held on for a long time. Given that, they might have thought it was worth trying gain a place or even two at the start so that they could control the race from the front. However, since Lewis didn’t gain any places, as soon as Norris decided to just bolt and win the race on pure pace he was in a tough position. In hindsight, he could have parked the bus himself and just let the top two go, and from Mercedes point of view the best tactic would have been to let Russel through while Hamilton held up the pack and ensured Russel a podium, but I don’t think Lewis would have been too happy with that.
Still, even if it was the wrong decision, as a fan I appreciate when teams give it a go rather than always going with the conservative, common sense option. It makes the races more interesting, and does give the teams more options if unusual circumstances take place in the race. I’m surprised the lower down teams who are unlikely to score don’t try to vary their strategies a bit more, though RB perhaps does this too much as some of their strategies don’t seem to make much sense.
MacLeod (@macleod)
24th September 2024, 13:42
I think they were expecting a safetycar before lap 20. Otherwise they were really whishing things with a small chance to happening…..
Nick T.
24th September 2024, 14:09
Yes. Lewis and Mercedes were gambling losing a third or fourth in exchange for a shot at second at least and maybe even a win. Neither are particularly excited by a third place. So, I’m not surprised they tried at all. They’ve got nothing to lose. They’re not in a WCC or WDC battle of any type. I’m just surprised Lewis, a 7x WDC, is acting like he has no say over his own strategy.
AlanD
25th September 2024, 16:51
Nick: “I’m just surprised Lewis, a 7x WDC, is acting like he has no say over his own strategy.”
In the past we’ve heard drivers, including Hamilton, complain over the radio “I told you these were the wrong tyres”. After the Dutch GP last year, both Hamilton and Russell complained that they didn’t like the tyre strategy they’d had to run. The US GP a couple of years back, terrible tyre strategy by Mercedes and ignoring Hamilton’s calls to change it until it was too late.
Applebook
24th September 2024, 19:17
Why take that gamble when you’re in a good starting position and will be at best racing Max for one extra step on the podium? Dumb strategy. Made no sense.
Frank
24th September 2024, 11:55
A genuine podium shot got away from him there, but I fully understand Mercedes trying to play their cards a bit different.
They have nothing substantial to gain from the WDC nor WCC, so it makes sense to chase the odd victory. If they follow the conventional strategy, they will get beaten 19 times out of 20. They can meekly finish – let’s say – 4th and 5th on merit, but that offers little return.
Why not put one driver on the conventional strategy to collect the points and/or capitalise on mishaps before them, whilst the other goes against the odds and hopes that the race comes their way.
In my sporting ook, that is honourable. You rarely win if you try not to lose.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
24th September 2024, 12:04
He always battles the wrong decisions made!
It’s becoming Alonso-like
Only Facts!
24th September 2024, 12:39
Strategist to Lewis: “You will launch like a Rocket, overtake two cars and then just manage the pace until the first stop”.
But it sounds like Colapinto was next door listening to this and thought “it’s not a bad idea…”.
Speaking of the rookie, when you have your teammate and another strong driver complaining about your move, but you actually just positioned your car in a way they had to back up, it’s a very good sign.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
24th September 2024, 13:17
Lewis does not sound very happy lately. It is going to be really interesting to see how he gets on at Ferrari with there being a different (F1) culture, different management and immediate support team i.e. race engineer. Is he going to become frustrated quickly?
I guess it will depend on how well they communicate and they manage each other (from above and below). Charles is obviously going to have an advantage over him in this respect at least, and how will this pan out?
Nick T.
24th September 2024, 14:12
It will depend on how good the car is. It’ll be really interesting to see how much speed Lewis still has. Even if he’s lost a bit to his early days, he’ll crush Leclerc. If he’s lost a full gear, he will become dispirited really quickly no matter if the car is great or not.
Nick T.
24th September 2024, 14:19
PS: The reason I don’t think we can judge how much raw speed he still has re: his quali issues / record vs GR is simply that he’s never excelled in tricky, unpredictable cars while that’s all George trained on @ Williams for 3 seasons.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
24th September 2024, 15:02
I think it’s way too early to say hamilton should crush leclerc, who proved to be his match when the car is fast in 2019, and there’s even races where he was a serious contender to victory in a much slower car (silverstone 2021), but I also think it’ll depend on the car, I think both drivers extract relatively more performance from a faster car.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
24th September 2024, 15:39
I agree really. I suspect it will be close between them at least. It will depend on how the car is set-up or performs but I can quite see Charles being Lewis’ equal or better.
Nick T.
25th September 2024, 2:34
Prime Lewis wouldn’t crush Leclerc in qualifying by any means, but he would comfortably outscore him. The question is simply if Lewis is still very close to his prime and if Ferrari give them a good car. I think if it’s basically the same car as this year, Leclerc will edge him. Once 2026 comes around and they’re both new to the car, I expect Hamilton to outscore CL if the car is consistent and fits his style. No matter what, it’ll be fun to watch. Besides Max, the two old GOATs have been outclassing “the next gen” for years now.
Applebook
24th September 2024, 21:27
Even Russell is easily faster over one lap and is pretty close over a race distance. In qualifying, unless the car ends up really not suiting Charles, he’ll be in a different league. The races are a different story.
AlanD
25th September 2024, 16:59
Good point. I remember a few years back someone saying that Red Bull tend to make the radical high-risk calls, Mercedes take the conservative low-risk calls, and Ferrari just make indecisive calls. There are times when Hamilton has clearly been frustrated by Mercedes calls, when they’ve been indecisive or conservative, e.g. I think it was Singapore last year when on fresher tyres he wanted to pass Russell and pressure the cars ahead but was held back to keep to the safe conservative strategy, and I’d wondered how much of that frustration had contributed to his decision to leave Mercedes.
Steve Rogers (@yossarian)
24th September 2024, 14:22
Would it be possible to get Sainz addded to the chart above, @keithcollantine? Would be interesting to compare his progress to Hamilton’s as he was the only one on a comparable strategy, stopping even earlier. And although I agree Mercedes put Hamilton on a bad startegy, I also feel he didn’t even try to make it work once it became apparent there would be no early safety car.
AlanD
25th September 2024, 17:03
Steve: “I also feel he didn’t even try to make it work”
I’m not sure what more you think he could have done. They clearly were not giving any pace advantage, the circuit is not great for overtaking at the best of times, and as you said, he made those tyres last longer than Sainz.
David BR (@david-br)
24th September 2024, 18:01
I found the decision really ‘strange’ as soon as those soft tyres became visible on the grid. The fact Hamilton ‘battled’ what he confirmed was a team decision just reinforces my suspicion that this was done to ensure Russell finished ahead. Russell’s own (chuckling?) ‘Lewis won’t like that’ just doubles-down on this impression. Clearly Russell thought it was a bad idea too then and also seems to confirm that, nonetheless, he understood the team had some other motive. As Hamilton points out, Mercedes only used to split strategies when one driver qualified far down the grid. But giving the ‘alternative option’ to the driver who qualified ahead when they didn’t want it? Just never done. Until now.
AlanD
25th September 2024, 17:08
If those tyres had given a race pace advantage, and if there had been an early safety car, it would have been a brilliant decision, but the drivers were saying the tyre was rubbish, and gambling on a Safety Car only works if your team mate brings one out by deliberately crashing. I can understand Merc wanting to try a split strategy, but maybe starting Russell on hards would have been more sensible.
Neil (@neilosjames)
24th September 2024, 19:22
It seemed a strange choice when I first saw the tyres, because it was obviously a ‘weird gamble’ strategy and normally a team might try one of those with their second-placed driver… not the lead car of the team, lining up in third.
Nick T.
25th September 2024, 2:36
Try jumping Lewis with George by putting him on softs? I’m sure that’d go down equally well with Lewis.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
25th September 2024, 10:39
Putting the driver behind on soft tyres didn’t work out so well for Mercedes in Qatar last year.
grapmg
25th September 2024, 12:31
I was more surprised he couldn’t follow the two leaders on the softs while Russel on the mediums was able to stay close to Lewis. Normally you have more pace on the softs than the mediums but you have to stop earlier. In that case an undercut would have been possible. It doesn’t make sense to start on the softs and than manage the tyre so you can extend your stint but still have to sop earlier than everybody else.
James
25th September 2024, 15:13
Nothing surprising there. The track temp was higher than in qualifying. His softs were overheating after lap 2 lol.
AlanD
25th September 2024, 17:11
And in addition to what James said, the cars were at their heaviest with fuel and the least rubber on the track so the tyre wear would be greatly increased compared to qualifying.