Toto Wolff says the Mercedes Formula 1 team can learn from “confusion” in planning a late pit stop for Lewis Hamilton on the way to victory at Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton dominated the proceedings at the Hungaroring to score his eighth circuit victory, enjoying a lead of more than 20 seconds over Max Verstappen entering the final stages of the race.
Mercedes confirmed to Hamilton with 10 laps to go that he was planning a third and final pit stop thanks to his reservation for Verstappen that would allow him to retain the lead.
An initial plan to stop over hard compound tires was scrapped before a soft change was also canceled, and Hamilton told him to “wait” for a decision by race engineer Pete Bonnington.
Hamilton finally faced off at the end of Lap 66 to grab a new set of soft tires, allowing him to set the fastest lap of the race and score the additional bonus point.
When asked by Autosport about indecision on the pit wall, Wolff explained that the team had changed its plan to stop late since morning.
“Our communication wasn’t great around that,” Wolff admitted.
“In the morning we agreed that we would not do a fast lap, which was too risky.”
“The call around lap 60 to protect against the safety car would certainly have been the right decision, but then the gap was never comfortable enough. It was a second or two, then 2.5, then we got to backmarker traffic.” .
“So obviously we got in touch with Lewis, so in the end it was a bit of a mess, and four laps to go he was pitted to score the fastest lap.”
“I think there is a lot to learn from the internal conversation we had in the garage and communication with the driver.
“[It was] certainly not 1A, but in the end the result counts. “
Hamilton welcomed the opportunity to try to claim the fastest lap bonus point, saying he had earned the opportunity to do so by building that gap.
“We have to weigh the risks. I didn’t push so hard that I was going to make a mistake and go out, so it was a fully controlled lap,” said Hamilton.
“I have lost a world championship in the past by one point, so I know how crucial it is to maximize it at all times.”
“We are in a year where we don’t know what reliability will be like, we don’t know how long the season will last.”
“Valtteri [Bottas] I had a great first race. By the time he had the fastest lap, I had the gap, and I felt it was necessary to get to that point, particularly because I felt I had won the gap I had.
“Things like the extra pitstop coming in, all of these things add up to the risk factors. But we are a professional team.”
“I think it was the right decision.”
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