James Allison, Mercedes Technical Director, debriefs the Hungarian GP and explains the pitstop strategy for the two drivers.
Mercedes AMG F1 Debrief of the Hungarian GP
Allison explains the reason for the risky strategy the team used for Valtteri Bottas that saw him pit on lap 16 and put on a new set of soft tyres. Bottas was then forced to defend second place for the next 55 laps on those tyres. The gambit failed as the tyres went off the cliff and Bottas dropped to P5. The Finn was also involved in two collisions in the process.
Allison explains the relative strengths of the Mercedes and Ferrari cars as the F1 teams head for the almost month-long summer break.
Summer Break
After a gruelling stretch of six weeks that saw five races unfold in quick succession, the teams and drivers will welcome the summer break. The pendulum has swung between the two main contenders Hamilton and Vettel all season long. Hamilton has five wins to Vettel’s four wins. it could easily have been the other way round.
Hamilton has a 24-point lead over Vettel in the drivers’ championship. Mercedes and Ferrari have been neck and neck in the constructors’ championship also. The Silver Arrows lead Ferrari by 10-points with nine races left.
Ferrari has shown an impressive rate of development during the season. The rest of the season and the final outcome of which driver and team wins the titles will be determined by which team gains an edge in performance and executes well on race day.
The Formula 1 season returns with the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps (24 -26 August 2018).
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