11 May, 2021
In past years it could be argued that if Mercedes ever erred it was on the side of caution when it came to strategy, but this season they have really nailed it and some bold calls from the team have helped Lewis Hamilton win three of the four races so far this year.
After winning Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton also has a handy 14 points lead over title rival Max Verstappen whose Red Bull team have been caught napping by some masterstrokes from James Vowles and his team of clever people.
Twice they fooled everyone and twice their calls paid dividends in the best way possible, suggesting that apart from an increasingly potent car they have their strategy guys setting the benchmark to counter the Red Bull menace.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has tipped his hat to the group of mathematicians and strategists plugging away back at their Brackley base – and those working trackside – for engineering a win for Lewis Hamilton on Sunday in Spain.
The straight-shooting team boss was ecstatic after a two-stop strategy, executed perfectly by Hamilton at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, overturned Max Verstappen’s lead and gave Mercedes a 29-point buffer in the Constructors’ Championship.
Wolff said “The atmosphere was fantastic and I really need to take my hat off from the group of strategists, led by James [Vowles] and all the group back in Brackley. We had almost faultless execution and today we were behind. We were behind but we were able to, or we were in a position to, make that call because we had the gap.
Hamilton had started from pole but lost the lead to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the opening lap. With overtaking so hard in Spain, that might have been that but for Mercedes’ belief in their man’s ability to deliver and their willingness to give him the chance to do so.
Gambling that Hamilton could make a two-stop strategy work, Hamilton came back to make up a 21-second deficit and pass Verstappen, who was to finish second, in 17 laps. Valtteri Bottas was third for Mercedes. Hamilton now has three wins from four races and is 14 points ahead of Verstappen.
Max ‘could see defeat coming’ at Spanish GP
Date published:
May 9 2021
Max Verstappen conceded he was going to be beaten by Lewis Hamilton in Spain, saying he could “see it coming” late in the race.
Mercedes’ strategy team led by James Vowles made a sudden switch to a two-stop strategy for the Briton on lap 42 as the Silver Arrows took a risk on an alternate approach to the race.
Rather than pitting the following lap to cover Hamilton, Verstappen and Red Bull opted to stay out and, while the World Champion had a 23-second deficit to overcome, he was able to close the gap on fresher rubber and pass his title rival six laps from the end, to earn his 98th victory in Formula 1.
Mercedes were ‘foolish’ with Bottas fastest lap attempt
Date published:
May 5 2021
Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles said they were “foolish” with their timing to pit Valtteri Bottas and chase fastest lap in Portimao.
After Lewis Hamilton had ditched his early three-way battle with Verstappen and Bottas to set himself up for victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Mercedes decided to change their approach with Bottas and chase the fastest lap bonus point.
Bottas was no longer in contention for P2 after an earlier sensor problem, and so Mercedes brought him in to fit the soft rubber and have a couple of attempts.