Bojan Vrbnjak
Valtteri Bottas was, after a great ride, a glowing winner races for the Grand Prix of Japan, but this result does not necessarily have to come. Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion and former Mercedes racer, even believes that silver arrows are even responsible sacrificed a possible double victorybecause they didn’t want to have it after the race awkward conversation with both racers. "If Lewis had been left outside, I don’t know how it would have turned out. I think I could win,”He said in his blog Rosberg. "I don’t believe Bottas could overtake him because it’s hard to overtake on this track."
But this one scenario would put the Mercedes team in a very embarrassing situation. Just like v Silverstone Bottas would lose a possible victory due to the strategy. He was then virtual safety car, but this time the circumstances would be simple. “Mercedes would suddenly have a problem, namely how to justify this decision in front of its racers.“The alternative would be to intervene team order and got Hamilton after Bottas. “However, the championship leader battling for the title cannot be ordered to drop Bottas forward. Mercedes got into a Lose-Lose situation here."
However, he did not cause this situation Mercedes, because the motive was actually caused Sebastian Vettel and this much earlier, at the end of the first stint. “First we have Bottas at the top who had about a four second lead. Behind him, Vettel and Hamilton drove one after the other. Vettel had to wrap in the pits in front of Hamilton anyway, otherwise Lewis would have done the undercut and would have easily come in front of Sebastian. Then for Vettl the race would be over, so Vettel had to stop earlier to cover Hamilton. From here, it no longer made sense for Hamilton to turn into the pits. His only option was to stay on the track for longer. Bottas, however, had to cover for Vettl, otherwise he himself would have fallen victim to Vettl’s undercut."
Rosberg continues with his analysis"Bottas thus turned the circle behind Vettl into the pits. Hamilton forced Vettl to turn into the pits and his stop forced Bottas to do the same. Lewis stayed on the track five laps longer than Vettel and four laps longer than Bottas. And now it gets interesting. Because Bottas was on a bike change so early, it was unrealistic for him to be able to get to the finish line with these tires. Vettel and Bottas stayed with the two-stop strategy. And Lewis was suddenly left alone and felt very well with a medium mix of tires. Suddenly, everyone realized that the tires were probably good enough to be able to get to the finish line with them."It simply came to our notice then consequence of the factthat he had Mercedes at this point the race is essential more information as in the beginning. “You can learn a lot during the race,”Says Rosberg, who can resist experience from the races of the 2016 season.
That they are Hamilton called a second time to the pits, this from strategic point of view did not have of great sense, because Vettel was behind the British after Hamilton 's stop 20 seconds, and by the end of the race it was still 20 rounds. The German should have made up for the second on the lap, which he did not do. He managed to reduce the gap by only three seconds. Hamilton additional stop however, he re-appointed the current champion for Vettel. “I think they made a standard decision because they were able to explain it much easier after the race. However, this decision cost them double victories. It was a difficult decision, but quite understandable." Robserg however, I would rather see how it would work out with one stop. “Hamilton should be given the opportunity to get the best out of the one-stop strategy, as he has guarded his tires accordingly. It was certainly difficult for Lewis, but I’m sure he’ll forget about it quickly."
