Image exposes Lewis Hamilton’s ‘catastrophic’ fate

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has defended the team’s controversial decision to pit Lewis Hamilton in the Turkish Grand Prix.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has defended the team’s decision to pit seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, a move that potentially robbed the British driver of a podium finish.

After starting the Turkish Grand Prix at 11th on the grid, Hamilton expertly manoeuvred his way through the pack up to third place.

Because of the wet conditions in Istanbul, drivers were permitted to complete the entire 58-lap race on one set of tyres without pitting.

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But as Hamilton’s pace started to drop off with 10 laps remaining, the Mercedes team urged the 36-year-old to return to the pits for a fresh set of intermediate tyres.

Hamilton reluctantly pitted on Lap 51 and emerged back on the track in fifth place — he ultimately couldn’t make up any spots on the new tyres before crossing the finish line.

“Why did you give up that place?” he fumed over team radio following the pit stop.

“We shouldn’t have come in. I told you!”

Not only did the controversial decision potentially cost Hamilton a podium finish, but Red Bull rival Max Verstappen leapfrogged him on the drivers’ standings after finishing second in Istanbul.

However, Wolff stood by the call to change tyres and said a podium finish would have been possible if Hamilton had pitted when he was first told to.

The Mercedes team principal also claimed Hamilton would not have made it to the end on the original set of intermediates.

“The intermediate obviously looked really scary, but we thought that we could maybe hang out there and finish third with not stopping,” Wolff told Sky Sports.

“Or if a dry line appears maybe going on to a soft tyre until the end.

“So we balanced between pitting, taking it very conservative, fighting with Leclerc and Perez on the track for P3, or taking a little bit of a gamble and either winning or finishing third.

“Then we saw Leclerc dropping off and Lewis started dropping off and it was clear that we wouldn’t make it to the end.

“It was clear that if we stayed out he would have lost against (Pierre) Gasly in any case.

“I think that he in the car still felt good, but he was one-and-a-half seconds off the pace and would have anyway lost the position.

“And on the other side it is always frustrating that you see the other cars, you haven’t actually passed them, they are out on track in front of you.

“The correct call would have probably been taking it very conservative and pitting when everybody pitted for the intermediate, coming out behind Perez, probably behind Leclerc and then fighting with them on-track for P3.

“DNFing and losing all the points, that’s obviously catastrophic. We would have been caught up by Leclerc and Perez anyway if we had tried to stay out, so that wouldn’t have worked.”

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who finished the Turkish Grand Prix in 10th, was the only driver to complete all 58 laps without a pit stop.

Sky Sports presenter Karun Chandhok posted an image of one of Hamilton’s tyres to Twitter after the race, showing the true extent of the damage.

Regardless, Hamilton said he was “frustrated” with the decision to take a pit stop.

“I feel like I should have stayed out,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.

“My gut feeling was to stay out, and I feel like that’s what I should have done. So I’m frustrated in myself for not following my gut.

“It felt good to be in third and I thought if I just hold onto this, this will be a great result (starting) from 11th. This is worse, but it could be worse.”

Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas won the Turkish Grand Prix, while Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Sergio Perez joined him on the podium.

After starting the race at the back of the grid, Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo finished in 13th place.

The 2021 F1 season resumes with the United States Grand Prix, which is scheduled to get underway at 6am AEDT on Monday, October 25.

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