Marko Hanželic
Z Lewis Hamilton it wasn't exactly easy to talk after Russian GP race in Sochi. First, because of FIA Commissioners, which in his opinion stole the victory. And secondly, out of resentment towards the team that is supposed to be with wrong tactics further aggravated his Sunday afternoon on the Black Sea coast. British namely, he disagreed with an early stop in the pits (in the 16th lap) and the replacement of soft tires for hard ones.
Max Verstappen in Valtteri Bottas (both started on a middle tire mix) they only stopped at the 25th and 26th laps respectively, so they had much fresher tires in the second part of the race. Against them Hamilton he had no chance. Po Verstappnov he was 5,8 seconds behind the Dutchman in the stop, after 53 laps the gap increased to 15 seconds.
"We originally planned to stop in the 16th round," explains Hamilton. “But luckily we had a safety car on the track until lap 6. I figured I could drive six laps longer. However, I was called to the pits in the 16th lap, although I was sure that I would drive at least five more laps, which would make the second part of the race much easier. ”
When his racing engineer Peter Bonnington by radio messages: "Box, Box", je Hamilton immediately replied: "My tires are still fine." But his objection did not fall on fertile ground. Only a few laps later did it British complained by radio: “You brought me to the pits too soon. Now I have to watch my tires. It will be difficult to drive until the end. ”
He was 35 years old at the time stop the punishment and disagreement over the tire strategy already quite irritated. Who is he Bonnington Wanting to communicate Verstappn's lap time, Hamilton interrupted him and grinned at him: “I don’t want to hear that anymore! There is no difference anyway… ”
Hamilton considers that with with a longer first stint he could get more advantage and not fall so far back down the ladder. But the chief racing engineer Andrew Shovlin he is convinced that the stop in the 16th round was not a mistake. Pirelli soft tires, with which Hamilton started, do offer relatively much in Sochi constant grip, but only to the point where wear reaches the bottom layer of the tire. "Then you suddenly lose almost all of your grip," adds Shovlin.
