Strategic duel with Verstappen
One of the few truly relevant moments in the long procession of single-seaters through the streets of the Principality that was this year’s Monaco GP involved Lewis Hamilton. In fact, the seven-time world champion was one of the first (and few) to stopping in the pits during the race to fit a fresh set of tirestaking advantage of the free space left behind by the large gap he had built on Tsunoda’s Racing Bulls.
With his pit stop Hamilton came very close to making the only overtaking move of the race into the top ten, coming close to undercutting his historic rival Max Verstappen, who preceded him on the track. Hamilton halved the gap he had from the Dutchman between before and after the break, but he failed to gain the placing thanks to the immediate coverage of the Red Bull team, who brought Verstappen back in on the immediately following lap, in any case running a high risk of being overtaken by Mercedes.
Hamilton-‘Bono’ radio team
In reality, however, shortly after the break, thanks to a rather angry radio team from Lewis Hamilton, we understood how it was the Brackley team that wasted an important opportunity to get a few more points. After seeing Verstappen exit the pits in front of him, Hamilton opened up to his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, complaining about not having been warned that a full speed lap was needed to be able to overtake in the pits.
The radio communications are quite eloquent and show how ‘Bono’ does not incite Hamilton to squeeze the tires straight away, effectively allowing Verstappen to maintain the gap sufficient to save the position.
Bonnington: “Do a normal out-lap, the time should get to you.”
Hamilton: “How hard do you want me to push?”.
Bonnington: “Just push. Like in Suzuka.”
Bonnington: “Verstappen in the pit lane”.
Hamilton (seeing Verstappen still in front): “Why didn’t you tell me that lap was ‘critical’?”.
Wolff’s admission of guilt
After the race it was Toto Wolff to provide explanations on what, by the Austrian team principal’s own admission, was a communication error on the part of the team towards its driver: “First of all it was a miscommunication between us on the pit wall: we made a mistake. It should have been a ‘critical out-lap’, trying to do an undercut. But then there was discussion about whether any out-lap would be enough [a guadagnare la posizione] with new tyre. So, the message he received was confusing at best, but more likely wrong“.
“Should have been a ‘critical out-lap’ – concluded Wolff – but the underlying concern was what would happen next if we destroyed that tire in just one lap. In summary, however, the message to Lewis [Hamilton] it was wrong. It was the team’s fault.”. Not the first mistake in a season that is turning into a long and difficult desert crossing for Mercedes.
