There was a dramatic scene in Turkey, when Hamilton and his race engineer were arguing at TR about whether they should enter the station to change tires, ostensibly a tactical blunder of the team, and Hamilton was the victim. Let's go back in time to what TR is about and see what exactly led to the end result.
Hamilton played a decisive role in the development of the strategy, which may have allowed him to secure a higher position in the Turkish Grand Prix, but it is also possible to achieve nothing.
Hamilton finished fifth on a wet track early in the race and told the team he didn't want to pit when the drivers in front of him began to pit in on lap 36 to get their new half-rain tyres.
As Hamilton explains, he expects the track to dry out, and the car that has just been replaced with a new half-rain tire may hit the tires that heat up too fast and cause particles, and he hopes to maintain the performance of the half-rain tires until then, because the half-rain tires have passed the decay limit and entered a balance period similar to dry tires. But once Verstappen, Perez and the others go through this phase, their laps will return to their normal rhythm, and Hamilton knows that.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Hamilton's full radio communication from the 32nd turn</h1>
<col>
circle
sound
message
32
Bonnington
So Alonso is now out of the pit. He will lead five seconds.
Hamilton
Are we playing against Alonso?
No.
What tires did he put on?
Alonso adopted a new half-rain tire. We will keep you updated at all times.
Fernando Alonso was one of the first drivers to switch to a second set of half-rain tires.
When he chased Perez, his TR remained silent for the next few laps. He tried to overtake the Red Bull driver, but without success, so Hamilton lost about five seconds of time. This means that Verstappen will have a secure pit stop window to ensure that the outbound is still in front of Hamilton.
Hamilton suggested that the team recruit him to enter the station to change the tires, rather than overtake them, simply pit tire changes, overtaking Perez by undercut, but this proved impossible, as the Red Bull driver also pitted a tire change after a lap of Verstappen's pit stop. This deprived Hamilton of his first move, and he was unable to overtake Perez by undercut.
37
Verstappen pit stops, new half-rain tires.
Verstappen led by two seconds.
How did he come out?
Yes, Lewis, so we wasted a lot of time fighting Perez.
We're weakened by Perez, aren't we?
Our pit stop window was not good and there was traffic when leaving the station.
38
No problem with the tyres.
Received, Lewis. Vettel switched to a neutral tire, but it didn't work.
Yes, we still have some time (to change dry tires).
So Vettel he was struggling.
I can't see my right hindquarter, so you go and see.
Received, let's take a look.
39
So the front is a traffic jam. Judging from the pictures, the right posterior tire looks OK.
Mercedes aren't sure if the track is dry enough for dry tyres, and now it seems like the only way they can gain an edge over Red Bull is to stay on the track.
Hamilton said: "The track is drying out, we don't know when the racing line will dry, but it is slowly drying out. We might have pitted earlier," he added, "and maybe when I chase Perez, maybe we can stop." But you have to determine if the track will dry up. ”
<col style="width: 110px;">
40
Alonso's Blue Flag. Verstappen do 1:35.0.
Tires have a hard time keeping the temperature.
Okay, received
Leclerc is currently P1 and he has no pit stop. He was 15 seconds ahead and was going to run to the end.
Who is it?
Leclerc.
Mercedes asked Hamilton to pitt on three laps after Bottas pitted, but he wants to stay on the track and hope to gain an edge by being outside. He still believes that the conditions on the track will be fully improved, so he can opt for dry tires.
<col style="width: 120px;">
41
Leclerc do 1:34.6. Valtteri1:34.0。
box，box。 box，box。
Why?
We have to change the half-rain tire. Gasley is quickly approaching...
I don't think so, man.
42
Hurry up?
Ricciardo 1:33.5。
Gasly made 1:33 and we lost the pit stop window in front of Gasley after losing the move.
It felt like we should stay outside, man.
Okay, one more lap. Give us a little more time to think.
43
Not far away the track is dry.
Okay, received Lewis, we haven't reacted yet. Remember, Gasley is only five seconds away from our pit stop window.
We will only waste more time.
Roger that. Stay outside, stay outside. Perez was 15 seconds behind and he did a 1:34.8 so there was no threat at the moment.
44
Good. Sure, the grip wasn't great, but the track was drying out.
On lap 46, Bottas overtook Leclerc before the Ferrari drivers pitted in to change tires. That put Hamilton in third place temporarily, but Mercedes began to realize that the tyres weren't going to last.
Hamilton explained: "I was third and hopefully I didn't have to pit stop. Everyone else had switched to a half-rain tire, and I hoped that changing to a dry tire would allow me to regain some of my position. ”
45
We have 14 laps left.
Perez's most recent lap was 1:34.9. Gasley 1:34 [not clear].
Can these tires last to the end?
46
The track is almost dry.
Receiving Lewis, yes, we're just assessing whether it will continue until the track dries out.
Leclerc 1: 35.5, it looks like he's starting to struggle a bit.
Kakuda Hiroshi in front of him wanted to give way.
Perez is 1:34.5 and Gasley is 1:35.0.
Maybe Mercedes hoped that AuCom would come into the station right away to change into dry tires, but he stayed until the end.
In the end, the Mercedes team realised hamilton's lap time was dropping so much that they would be overtaken by Perez at the end of the race. On lap 50, he was told the key window was coming.
The team's head of track operations, Schaufferin, explains: "If we don't stop, we will lose to Perez and Leclerc on the track no matter what, and even risk a flat tire at the end. So this is really just a case of reducing losses and not becoming too greedy. Before all of this, we were fifth and in the end we were fifth, which was acceptable to the team. ”
48
Leclerc pitted, now P3, with 11 laps left.
Perez trailed 13.5 laps, the most recent lap at 1:33.7.
49
Lewis, if you can provide us with the latest information on the tires.
I mean, the car was slippery, but so far it's fine.
Okay, received.
50
Okay, Lewis, we're monitoring the gap, Gasley did 1:33.6, and for him we still have a three-second safe window.
Okay, Lewis, so we thought we should drive another lap and it would be our last chance before we lost to Gasly. We have eight laps to go.
Are you sure? Good.
Okay, receive, pit stop, we'll help you confirm it.
It's a nice lap.
51
Okay, be careful with the white lines at the exit.
Gasley is three seconds behind and Perez is six seconds ahead of you.
Hamilton had seen the rear of Verstappen's car before the pit stop and was clearly frustrated by the pit stop. He has always aspired to stay on the track. He admitted: "It was frustrating at the time because obviously I could see second place and then all of a sudden I was back in fifth place. ”
Damn, man, why did you give up that space?
It looks like we're going to lose that position anyway. That's just six seconds ahead of Perez and Leclerc.
You are 1:34.6. Perez's fastest lap was 1:31.9.
52
We think it's going to be a good lap for the fastest lap, so you can take five laps if you need to.
53
Where am I, man?
Currently P5. Leclerc was 1:36.0 on the latest lap.
We shouldn't come in, man.
There's tire granulation, man. I told you.
54
Okay, receive, Lewis. We wasted our time on Perez, but we'll talk about that later. Gasley's car trailed 1.7 seconds.
I was out of breath for a second.
Leave it alone, man.
58
Okay, Lewis, so run another lap to tune to mode five.
59
This is the P5. I'm sorry, but we'll talk to you about the progress strategy. Please give me Strat mode one.
After reading the communication TR content between the two sides, I don't know what the fans think? Please leave a message