Lewis Hamilton’s Hungarian Grand Prix victory was built on the basis of the W11’s massive performance superiority and Hamilton’s brilliance in the wet opening phase, when he pulled 8s onto the field in three laps.
But that still left the Mercedes team with many key tactical decisions to make. Most of them revolved around how to help Valtteri Bottas bounce back from his bogged start, which sank him from the front row to sixth in the first corner. But Hamilton’s career also needed to be managed.
This is how those key calls were made.
READ MORE: The last fastest lap on the way to victory was a “crucial risk,” says Hamilton after his 86th career victory.
Leaving interest in slicks
The track was drying up quickly at the start of the race. So much so that some more behind, the two pilots of Haas and Daniil Kvyat of Alpha Tauri, preferred not even to go on the grid, but to enter the pitlane from the formation lap and go directly to slicks. Haas put that plan into action, but Alpha Tauri was unable to challenge him and Kvyat entered at the end of the first lap.
As the times of the Haas sector were monitored by everyone and turned out to be quite respectable, a decision had to be made. Get in right away, minimizing lost time on the track, or wait a lap to take advantage of the free space the pitters had created.
Hamilton’s 3s gap up front allowed Mercedes the luxury of serving Bottas first as he was the one that needed the most help, thanks to his poor start. He was brought to the end of lap 2. Hamilton’s gap and pace meant that stopping one lap later cost him nothing. He left the stops that were still driving comfortably.
READ MORE: Magnussen Praises Haas’ “Amazing Call” That Helped Him Reach First Points in 2020
Which compound?
The soft is not a good tire on the long turns of the Hungaroring. Blisters his left forehead, especially in cool conditions. Mercedes wanted to avoid it at all costs and had used the means for Q2 to avoid having to start with it (which the rain made irrelevant, as things turned out). His range would not have been more than 12 laps, which in a dry race would have forced you to adopt the slower two-stop strategy.
But the softer the compound, the faster it rises to temperature, which can be a major problem with an early stop on a cold, wet track. The hard tire was probably the best for one season. But it had the disadvantage of taking two or three laps to reach working temperature, which could have been costly when faced with so little field extension so early.
Therefore, the medium tire was suggested as the best compromise, despite the fact that the left striker would need much more handling than the hard one. Both Bottas and Hamilton were equipped with it.
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On the contrary, Ferrari, with little to lose, was prepared to play with the softs. Sebastian Vettel canceled them from the cabin. Charles Leclerc agreed. Vettel’s race was rescued and Leclerc ruined. But Leclerc was directly in front of Bottas when they exited the pits, and would delay him terribly for the next seven laps. This would be very costly for Bottas and would ultimately delay his arrival at the tail of Red Bull, Max Verstappen’s second place.
Leclerc’s fight with the softs hurts Bottas
Second stop time
As the race neared the midpoint, Hamilton’s lead over Verstappen was around 19 years. The longer he could keep those tires alive, the bigger his tire advantage would be next season. So there was no rush to face it.
However, Bottas, having lagged behind beating both Leclerc and Magnussen out of phase, was unable to find a way to overcome Lance Stroll’s Racing Point. Mercedes hoped she could apply undercut pressure, tempting Stroll to go in and then stay out, using the Merc’s fastest pace to surpass the past.
But Racing Point was not falling in love with him, he wanted to maximize the length of the Stroll season. Finally, Mercedes accepted that it had to undermine Bottas’ past. This happened on lap 33.
READ MORE: The Strategy Bet Lost the Chance of Earning Points at Racing Point, Stroll Says
For the same reasons of warm-up, the medium tire was chosen again. The risk of difficulty was that he had not reached the temperature fast enough to allow Bottas’ lap to be faster than Tyoll’s lap.
The timing of Hamilton’s stoppage was determined only when Red Bull brought Verstappen. Arriving before Red Bull had made Hamilton vulnerable to a Safety Car as many laps as Verstappen remained out. As soon as Verstappen faced off, on lap 36, Hamilton was again vulnerable, if a Safety Car had come after Hamilton passed the well entrance (as had happened at the Styrian Grand Prix). So he faced off on the next lap.
The medium tire was chosen again for Hamilton, only for its better performance in humidity, and this was at the time when the planned shower was expected. Red Bull chose the difficult for Verstappen. Bottas had now cleared Stroll, but was 8 seconds away from Verstappen, his next target.
READ MORE: Bottas Blames The Lights On The Steering Wheel Dash For A Bad Start To The Race
Third stop
Both Merc pilots made the third stop, although this had not been the plan.
The Merc was much faster than Red Bull and Bottas had quickly caught Verstappen. It was within DRS’s reach on lap 45. But there was no way to pass. His left front half could not lean on hard enough to give him the required speed in the straight hole. Verstappen’s hard tires were still in good condition.
Like last year with Hamilton and Verstappen, Mercedes decided to bring Bottas in for a new set of (hard) tires, calculating that there was enough time left to make the stop loss in the 20s come back up before the end, hopefully with enough extra grip on the old Verstappen that he could beat. Traffic delays and a big change in Verstappen’s late speed ultimately thwarted that plan, and created a new dilemma. With his new tires, Bottas had set the fastest lap of the race.
READ MORE: “The second feels like a victory,” says Verstappen as he recovers from the crash before the podium race.
Hamilton, with a Verstappen gap equivalent to more than one pit stop, was using old tires that could have made him vulnerable on a restart if there was a Safety Car. Wy doesn’t use that gap to put on new tires? The plan was tough. “Why not softs?” Hamilton asked, clearly looking to beat Bottas’ fastest lap.
Why not in fact? The gap had widened, why shouldn’t he be given the chance to use it to get the extra point? Therefore, his stop was delayed by only four laps from the end, when new softs allowed Hamilton to flourish the fastest lap.
DHL Laptest Lap Award: Hungary 2020
