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Lewis Hamilton Lauds Mercedes’ Brilliant ‘Chess Move’ to Beat Verstappen in Spain
Mercedes AMG recently left the entire F1 community in awe after producing what was one of the best strategical decisions under pressure. Following the astonishing weekend for Lewis Hamilton and his crew, the Stuttgart outfit revealed a sneak peek of what was actually going on inside their garage while taking the strategic call.
It was a four-way radio conversation between the boss, Toto Wolff, race strategy engineer, Leonardo Da Silva, strategy director, James Vowles, and Hamilton’s race engineer, Peter Bonnington, commonly known as ‘Bono’.
Hamilton’s message to Mercedes and the entire F1 fans
The 7-time world champion shared the video on his social media handle, claiming it to be one of the “best bits” F1 had to offer their fans.
“This is one of the best bits of footage I’ve seen F1 show. As you can see, it’s a team effort. We practice and practice, we analyse and adapt even when we win,” he wrote.
“We push to be better. My job is to get the car to a position that these guys can then use their brilliant minds to make the right chess move. My goal was to keep Max within a second before my stop. I was around half a second behind here.”
This is the second time Mercedes managed to beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with a mind-blowing strategical gamble. The latter occurred during the 2019 Hungarian GP, where Mercedes opted for a two-stopper over Red Bull’s one-stopper.
In the end, it was again Hamilton who surged past Verstappen late in the race, after a vigorous chase on fresher Medium tires.
That is why we have the championships: Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton lauded the Mercedes’ execution in Barcelona and reckoned it’s the team’s perfection that has carried them to the 14 world championship titles.
“Timing is everything. Perfect execution from the team, together we made it. This is why we have the championships. We have because we work as a team. So proud to work and represent these men and women,” he wrote.
With Verstappen right on Hamilton’s tail in terms of pace, one can look forward to more such strategical battles between the two rival teams. So far, Mercedes have nosed ahead on most occasions. But that’s bound to change at some point.
So, will Red Bull stronger for the upcoming race weekends? Can Verstappen keep his championship hopes alive by remaining close to the defending champion? Only time will tell.
Read More: Lewis Hamilton Hails Big Mercedes ‘Gamble’ for Spanish GP Win
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