“Rid in the shit” – Hamilton scolds his team
Lewis Hamilton was stunned by his team’s strategy
What: pa/empics/James Moy
At the race in Zandvoort, Lewis Hamilton is fighting for victory for a long time. Then the safety car and his team’s strategy get in the way of the Mercedes driver. He chooses words for which he later has to apologize.
AThe Daily Mirror called what happened to Lewis Hamilton a “late nightmare”. The seven-time world champion competed for victory at the Dutch Grand Prix. Then a late safety car phase and his team’s strategy dashed his hopes.
His competitors Max Verstappen, George Russell and Charles Leclerc took advantage of the slowdown in the race to put on new soft tires without wasting much time. Mercedes driver Hamilton was the only one who stayed on medium tires that were five laps old. The Brit took the lead, but was powerless at the restart on lap 61 of 72 on the deteriorating tyres. First Verstappen passed, later Russell and Leclerc. Instead of celebrating his first win in 16 races, Hamilton had to settle for fourth place.
No chance at the restart: Max Verstappen (right) easily passed Lewis Hamilton
Quelle: Getty Images/Clive Mason
During the race, he was already cursing what he considered to be a failed strategy by his engineers. “I can’t believe how much you screwed me up. You can’t imagine how pissed off I am,” Hamilton said. After the race, which Verstappen won ahead of Russell and Leclerc, he thanked the mechanics responsible for the pit stops, but not the engineers who set the strategy.
Sorry from Hamilton
With a little distance to the race, the 37-year-old had calmed down a bit. “As I walked past my box, I saw that the soft tires were there and that George got them. At that point my hope was gone,” Hamilton analyzed. Because of this and the safety car phase in general, his mood was at “boiling point”.
Hamilton apologized for his harsh manner with his crew. “It was like I lost my mind for a second,” he said. But he wants to keep his passion. “I’m just like that. I don’t always do everything right,” Hamilton said.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff showed slight understanding for Hamilton’s freak out: “We are the garbage can for the driver. He’s sitting in there alone and throwing up himself.” However, he defended the decision not to change tires at Hamilton in favor of a better position on the track. “It didn’t work out for him in the end, but I’d rather take the risk of winning the race with Lewis than finishing second or third,” said Wolff. He did not expect such a slump in Hamilton’s tires.
The trend at Mercedes is positive after the race in Zandvoort, despite Hamilton’s late disappointment. Above all, the competitiveness to the seemingly overpowering Red Bulls surprised. In the meantime, the Mercedes on the hard tires were the fastest cars on the track. “Victory is possible, we just have to keep going,” said Hamilton accordingly optimistically.