Hamilton's P2 Accredited To 'Stroke Of Luck' By Red Bull Team Principal
F1Monday, 30 October 2023 at 13:00
Red Bull Racing F1 team principal Christian Horner commented on the race strategy of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton had a great start to the race when he was able to move into P4 in a matter of a few laps from the original P6 starting position.
The seven-time World Champion then caught up to the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in P3. However, the Mercedes driver struggled with overheating his car and tires and could not overtake the Spaniard.
Consequently, the Mercedes team decided to call their driver to box on lap 25 for a pretty early stop for Hard tires. This move was supposed to ensure an undercut on the Ferrari driver.
On the other hand, it also meant that Mercedes committed to the one-stop pretty early in the race, and Hamilton would have to manage these hard tires for the 46 remaining lap of the race.
That did not end up happening, as the race was red-flagged after the horrible crash of Kevin Magnussen on lap 31 when a suspension on the left rear wheel of his Haas gave up and sent him into the barrier.
The teams then had the option to change the tires on their cars before the race restart. The Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, told Viaplay he thought Mercedes got lucky.
"They had a bit of a stroke of luck because they went in very early for a one-stop strategy. I think in the end they would have been beaten by the Ferraris."
Horner mentioned he thought Ferrari would beat Mercedes had there not been the red flag. On the other hand, he acknowledged the speed and tire management of the Silver Arrows throughout the season.
"But it is true that they had good speed and did well in terms of tyre wear, as we have seen from them all year."
Lewis Hamilton scored the fastest lap of the race (1.21.334) at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, as he was able to manage and prepare his medium tires for the last lap.
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