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What Mercedes Should’ve Done for Lewis Hamilton to Win US GP, According to Shovlin
Despite taking the race lead into the first corner after getting a better getaway, Lewis Hamilton could not hold on to it after two successful undercut strategies by Red Bull denied him of his sixth win at COTA.
Silver Arrows extended the Briton’s both first and second pit stops in order to charge down the field at the closing stages. However, Mercedes’ strategy backfired as Hamilton could not get close enough and eventually he crossed the chequered flag 1.333 seconds behind his title rival Max Verstappen.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin believes Silver Arrows would have had a better chance of winning the United States Grand Prix if they would have pitted Lewis Hamilton on lap 8.
Watch Story: Max Verstappen Beats Lewis Hamilton But Shaquille O’Neal Takes Center Stage: Best Moments from US GP
What did Andrew Shovlin say?
When asked what the Brackley-based team would have done to win the United States Grand Prix, Andrew Shovlin said: “To have a crystal ball and predict that we will be so strong on hard tires.”
Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 24, 2021. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton leads into the first corner at the start of the race ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen REUTERS/Mike Blake.
“You would have to take the first pit stop around the eighth lap and defend your lead. We were very weak in the middle ones,” concluded the Mercedes trackside engineering director.
I don’t know what we could have done differently: Lewis Hamilton
The seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, reveals he was not sure what Silver Arrows should have done differently at the US Grand Prix in order to defeat their arch-rivals, Red Bull.
As quoted by Motorsport, when asked how the race pan out for him, Lewis Hamilton replied: “It was a fun race. We had a good start, and he [Max Verstappen] seemed to be quite close throughout on the medium tire.”
“Then obviously they stopped extremely early and just tried to offset myself after that. I was hoping that would give us a chance to fight late on, but I think track position was key today.”
Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 23, 2021. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton waves after qualifying in second place REUTERS/Brian Snyder.
“I don’t know what we could have done differently. I’ll sit down and talk with the team afterwards. I think the team did a great job today, and it was what we had,” concluded the Mercedes driver.
Can Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton turn their fortune around at the Mexican Grand Prix? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.
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