In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he could tell his team mate Valtteri Bottas was taking too much out of his tyres in the British Grand Prix.
What they say
Both Mercedes drivers suffered tyre failures at the end of the race, but Bottas’s occurred earlier and was more costly:
I honestly felt that I drove really well. I think I’ve managed the tyres to the best of my ability, I think, today.
Valtteri was putting a lot of pressure on those in those early parts of the race. And so in places where I’d normally manage I had to manage less in order to keep him out of my DRS. So I had great pace today.
But I knew that at some stage he was going to degrade because I could see he wasn’t managing in areas that he should. And then you started to see the gap open up.
Then I felt quite comfortable where I was and I was absolutely certain that I’d still have plenty of life left on the tyre.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Charles on the podium after a thrilling finale (Ferrari)
Mattia Binotto: "We had prepared carefully for this weekend, going for a lower than usual aerodynamic downforce configuration, based on simulation work and development in the wind tunnel and it paid off. We also worked a lot on tyre management, which was a critical factor in this race, as can be seen from the last few laps. Charles did a good job, patiently listening to the engineers, saving the tyres for the entire race."
Team’s reactions after the race (AlphaTauri)
Franz Tost: "Daniil started the race from the back in P19, due to a five-place grid position penalty, but he had a good start and was immediately very competitive, catching up to Pierre in 12th. He was actually behind him when he had his accident at Maggotts, which we will need to investigate but it looks like it might be due to a rear puncture."
Nico Hulkenberg: "It’s a real shame that I couldn’t start the race and I feel for the team because they did everything to get me onto the grid. I’m very thankful to everyone for their help."
"This was the first race where we have been pretty fast, and our Sunday pace matched our Saturday, so that is positive. We have put a lot of effort in to focus on our pace today, so we are going in the right direction."
"Romain (Grosjean), once he was in the mix, he could almost keep up with the other cars and in some cases, he was faster – so that’s a good sign. Unfortunately, on his pit-stop, he couldn’t engage the gear and we lost 10 seconds. That took us out of the chance of scoring a point, I’m saying one point – not plural."
"Maria Teixidor will be taking over from Vicenç Aguilera, who served as President until February 2020 and Josep Mateu, RACC President, who took over the post for an interim period; while Josep Lluís Santamaría assumes the post of General Manager held by Joan Fontsere since 2015."
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Hearing @sepangcircuit decided against @F1 ‘filler’ race as it’s too much too soon given work reqd and no guarantees of spectators. Puts #VietnamGP in doubt but Jerez could make a return in mid-Nov ahead of Middle East triple-header. Would make for 17 rounds in 2020.
— Fritz-Dieter Rencken (@RacingLines) August 2, 2020
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Comment of the day
The dispute between Racing Point and Renault (and quite a few others) should finally be resolved this week:
I’m coming around to Racing Point’s argument: I saw a comparison of the W10 and the RP20 where the shape of the front of the monocoque and the suspension are different. I doubt anyone would have cared if they hadn’t carried over the shape of the nose.
I used to work in design qualification/assurance, and if someone came and said they’d changed the material lay-up, say, then the part would need re-qualified i.e. it wasn’t the same design. Those brake ducts may look the same geometrically, but they may not be the same ‘design’.
Not George
Happy birthday!
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@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd August 2020, 0:47
Well Formula Tyre continues and L.Hamilton is looking good for the Managers championship, with MB-AMG taking the title due to there superior management technology.
Selbbin (@selbbin)
3rd August 2020, 2:10
Your point? It’s still first to the line wins.
ColdFly (@)
3rd August 2020, 8:34
He became Manager of the Week though with his picture on the wall at the personnel entrance. Seems many fans here don’t mind it.
Max wasn’t racing either, but auditioning as standup comedian.
Luckily the rest gave us a good show.
petebaldwin (@)
3rd August 2020, 10:25
@coldfly – Many fans on here don’t mind because it’s Hamilton winning. Imagine the comments if it was someone else managing their tyres to victory every race….
ian dearing
3rd August 2020, 9:40
Yes, you are right. Nothing changes. Doesn’t it remind you of Silverstone 65 when Jim Clark; leading by 30s through good management of his tyres and pressures, managed the last quarter of the race by switching the engine off through the corners.
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd August 2020, 10:11
@iandearing, you weren’t listening, it wasn’t his tyres, it was a one-off engine oil problem with the oil pump running dry due to centrifugal force, it wasn’t an every race multi season contrived policy.
Bernie would love to take credit for the last laps drama.
ColdFly (@)
3rd August 2020, 10:33
@riptide
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd August 2020, 13:29
@riptide, So JC had to manage an engine problem in the last quarter of the race in 1965, it was not every race and engine reliability was not intentionally compromised for the show, even though JC dominated F1 and won most of the races he finished.
And sure, the leading driver always tried to manage the race because to finish first, first you had to finish, but the drivers behind were more intent on improving their position than finishing poorly, and the points system encouraged them to do so.
bob (@riptide)
3rd August 2020, 10:56
I was listening, racers have been managing their cars, tyes and race since racing began. You want to make whats happening now something it isnt. ‘multi season contrived policy’ indeed. Yea OK.
bob (@riptide)
3rd August 2020, 11:08
And maybe you should note my mention of ‘the last quarter’. Or do you really need it spelling out to that degree. Or maybe you arguing he wasn’t managing the car for the first three quarters of the race?
Clark 65 and Ham 20 both managed the Silverstone race and their tyres until they hit a problem near the end of the race, and despite those major issues still bought the car home in first place.
S
3rd August 2020, 11:49
*but only, on this occasion, because Red Bull pitted…
Had Hamilton’s tyre failed even one or two corners earlier than it did, a very different outcome would have ensued.
That’s not management or skill, that’s luck.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
3rd August 2020, 2:02
I understand Valtteri – he is in the middle of a new contract talks with Mercedes and cannot afford to look slower than Lewis. So, he was pushing all the way. I hope Mercedes team will calm him down with a new contract very soon.
Jay
3rd August 2020, 3:42
Isn’t racing flat out the point? Well it’s hard to keep up with F1 fanbase.
Krist
3rd August 2020, 2:32
Well jeez Lewis you did such a great job of managing that tyre. Only luck had yours blowing halfway round the lap and not on the start finish straight otherwise the result would have been the other way around.
David BR (@david-br)
3rd August 2020, 4:45
It’s not quite that simple. Bottas was complaining about the tyres, vibration and a lack of visibility (due to the vibration) several laps before the blowout. His lap times were visibly dropping off from Lewis’s. So that part of Hamilton’s take seems spot on, he had managed his tyres better. We have to see what Pirelli’s verdict is concerning the delaminations, it could be a combination of the wornout hard tyre (front left) and track debris.
F1oSaurus (@)
3rd August 2020, 7:14
Bottas clearly had tyres issues besides the blow out. His front right looked spent too.
Besides tyre blow outs aren’t part of “managing” the tyres, but from driving too long on them. Or from beating them up to much. Like taking too much kerb and/or driving over debris. Horner reporting that Verstappen’s tyre had 50 cuts also indicates that it was track related.
RB13
3rd August 2020, 10:48
It also blew up a whole 2 laps later but don’t let the facts get in the way of your salt will you.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd August 2020, 7:44
So quite likely no F1 racing east of Abu Dhabi this year. Well, Jerez should form a double-header with Portimao instead of Imola given the distance, so why hasn’t it (or Valencia or Aragon) seemed to be in proper considerations earlier this year. Replacing Imola with Jerez rather than going to Jerez separately would be more ideal to reduce travelling mileage, especially in this COVID-year, but oh well.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
3rd August 2020, 7:52
I sometimes just do not get what people expect from Bottas. He often gets complained at for not keeping close and putting pressure on Hamilton, he gets complained at for keeping close to Hamilton and then people complain that that was what ruined his tyres. Hamilton has a puncture 2 laps later and he had been in clean air for the whole stint. Sainz had a puncture. Verstappen’s tyres were an absolute mess. So were many others. It was either the wrong strategy for most out there or debris from earlier incidents.
Some just don’t seem to be happy with bottas no matter what he does. His pace this weekend was probably the closest it has been to hamilton on race day any time this year. He won’t have beaten Hamilton, but he had solid pace. He did keep opening and closing the gap to Hamilton to between 1.5 and 3 seconds, so that is very unlikely to be the reason why his tyres went. When Bottas said he was having vibration, he said it didn’t effect the speed, he could just feel it. He then said after the race that he soon backed off to try and manage them but he still got the puncture. Given so many drivers had issues, I don’t think this was to do with Bottas not managing them well. He had a very solid race and looked close to Hamilton the whole weekend pace wise for once.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
3rd August 2020, 8:02
I will also add that it looks like Kimi and Kvyat’s issues were also caused by a puncture (or about to become one). So I don’t think driver’s management was anything to do with the punctures for any of them this race.
F1oSaurus (@)
3rd August 2020, 11:57
@thegianthogweed Bottas had tyre issues before his left front blew. It looked like blistering on the right front. That’s when he started losing time.
That’s a separate issue from the tyres failing without warning on several cars.
Kribana (@krichelle)
3rd August 2020, 9:54
I did not like Bottas pushing because it was clear that the stint would be on the limit. This forced Hamilton to consistently respond him and place the tyres at risk. I was already worried when Ted Kravitz reported that Hamilton had a blister on his front left because we have not had tyre issues for a long time since probably 2017 at the same race track. I did not mind Bottas being 1-3 seconds behind. I already noticed how hard he was pushing to the point I commented on the live chat: “just do not take too much of the tyres”. I believe, if the cause of the punctures were not debris, this could have been the time when Mercedes should have called the battle off because the 1-2 was at risk when I saw the trade of fast laps.
Bottas lost more than 3 seconds to Hamilton and Verstappen on the two laps before his puncture occurred. Now he lost 25 points to Hamilton. In my view, Mercedes should have called this off if they wanted to conserve the 1-2. Still, a long way to go to the end of this championship.
David BR (@david-br)
3rd August 2020, 12:50
@krichelle I don’t see why. There is absolutely no way Mercedes lose the constructors championship, even Toto Wolff must know that! Mercedes have complete domination. Their rivals are all taking points and podiums off each other, RP, Ferrari, Red Bull, even McLaren. So it’s down to the drivers championship. And then it’s surely up to Hamilton and Bottas to decide how to go about winning it. At the same time, Mercedes have to allow them to race given no other driver is in the reckoning for the WDC. In fact, I’d be telling Bottas he’s free to be increasingly more aggressive on track. I can’t see what Mercedes would lose.
S
3rd August 2020, 15:05
Control ;)
N
3rd August 2020, 10:33
“Some just don’t seem to be happy with bottas no matter what he does.”
The problem isn’t Bottas, the problem is people’s hatred of Hamilton. It’s manifesting itself in the form of hatred toward those who cannot beat him regularly.
Alex
3rd August 2020, 13:29
Try not to be so defensive – its not always about Hamilton. I personally just want to see a fight for the championship. Bottas’ attitude at the first corner just confirms that we won’t have one again this year which is a little bit disappointing.
bob (@riptide)
3rd August 2020, 14:33
Bottas was behind Ham right through the corner and entered it at an even more acute angle than Ham. Even the commentators revised their opinions after the replays.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
3rd August 2020, 8:23
Binotto remarked the good work in producing a new wing with the right correlations a disgusting amount of times. Every damned interview this weekend he stressed on that point.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
3rd August 2020, 8:30
Lewis might have a point: Bottas was in his dirty air for almost the entire race. I don’t remember seeing their gap increasing over two seconds at any point after the safety car. Then again, as Hamilton suffered a similar failure, I don’t see how Bottas could have managed his tyres much better.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
3rd August 2020, 8:37
On the bright site @kaiie it seems that these cars have less problem following than a couple generations ago: if all we had was a difference of 2 laps on that delaminated front-lefts the difference between leading and following car wasn’t that big.
synonymous
3rd August 2020, 12:01
Which actually suggests the opposite of Hamilton’s comment – Bottas (in dirty air) quite possibly did a much better job than Hamilton (in clean air for almost the entire race) at managing his tyres…
An entire race in dirty air with a tyre failure 2 laps from home, VS an entire race in clean air with a tyre failure on the final lap. Looks like a pretty decent effort from Bottas, I think.
Tor
4th August 2020, 3:11
Correct. Just the usual bragging and put-downs by Hamilton.
Witan
3rd August 2020, 8:57
That first quote needs editing, as it stands it doesn’t make any sense. You have “states“ instead of race, and you have “place“ instead of race.
tony mansell
3rd August 2020, 9:02
Interesting to see the driver differential in 2 of the front runners, Ferrari & RB. Both cars are dogs, relatively speaking.
Going back to an Eddie Irvine interview he did in an excellent series with Steve Ryder, he said when he & Michael drove the dog of a 96 car, Eddie couldn’t get near Michael but as the car improved over the next 3 years he got closer and closer in lap time from over 1 sec to within a tenth.. The summation being that talent is more noticeable in tricky cars. His summation, not mine.
The differential between Max and Albon, Leclerc and Vettel would seem to back this up.
Alec Glen (@alec-glen)
3rd August 2020, 9:59
In addition to that there’s also a driver preference and the use of different driving styles. Some drivers like a pointy front end whereas others like Seb prefer a planted rear, it depends where they get their laptime. It’s probably easier to say that drivers that can use more driving styles and are more adaptable have more “talent” but I think in the real world we often see that drivers who are maybe more specific with how they want a car can extract that little bit more performance when it’s set up perfectly for them.
I read the other day that teams with high rake setups are struggling now due to the last round of regs changes to the front wing endplates as it’s forced the point at which they turn the car around further forwards, this is giving teams issues sealing the rear and making their car trickier to drive particularly in the low speed when the rake is at it’s max. Just this can move a car’s characteristics beyond one driver’s comfort zone and maybe this is what we’re seeing in the likes of Vettel and Albon this year.
ian dearing
3rd August 2020, 10:02
I remember MS saying in response to why have the best drivers in the best cars, is that its because of the tenth that the (Irvine’s for example) of this world can never get. And when you compare the Mercedes Rosberg/Bottas stats against Hams stats it does seem to bear that out. Interesting takes from a multiple champion and one who just couldnt find the last tenth to get him there.
tony mansell
3rd August 2020, 12:57
Adaptability is what the teams usually pay for in a driver. An Alonso or even a Barrichello’s ability to hustle a bad car gives the team some breathing space if they are struggling to find solutions. I think Charles & Max are not getting the credit they deserve, particularly Charles. And that’s another attribute teams pay for, getting a result the car doesn’t warrant. Two podiums in that Ferrari. Wow. Alas for us as punters he’s having to do it by nursing the car rather than throttling it but that’s the next skill, being realistic about what the car can achieve, Prost style.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
3rd August 2020, 10:54
I would have liked F1 racing at Sepang again. I love that circuit.
S
3rd August 2020, 12:04
Same.
Of the ‘modern’ circuits, it’s one of the best.
Rui Trindade (@trindade)
3rd August 2020, 15:40
What Hamilton is saying at the bottom is: that there is a pilot # 1 and a pilot # 2. But I think everyone has figured it out a long time ago. So it is not worth pretending that it is otherwise, taking advantage of a moment of great frustration and distress, which ended up in the best way for him.
There was no need.