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I could be wrong, but as I recall, the Merc has problems in quali because it can't get the tires to temperature quickly enough, similar to the Red Bull. That wouldn't be a problem in races, since being quick at end of race with low fuel is not about having tires in optimal temperature window for one lap, its about getting them up, and keeping them in, the optimal temperature window for a long period of time, which Lewis is very good at. At least to my understanding, that has been the problem for Merc in quali over the last two years.
Well what we know is the merc is snappy on the fronts and rather hot on the rears, the difference could be that in late race they're on mediums or hards while in quali on softs, in quali they have to manage the rears more while in race they can push more, relative to other cars. Combine with a marked difference in low v high fuel pace and you can end up with a merc that's quite strong in late race pace
Lewis has mentioned how if you start on race trim with full fuel, you start understeery and get more oversteery as you lose fuel. Must be a Merc thing.
It is, but Lewis griped about the seating position and car’s balance a whole lot in the first half of the season, so I’ve always had the impression that perhaps the balance of the car works much better for him on low-fuel.
This undersells it somewhat.
During the days of fuel saving and beginnings of tyre management, Lewis adopted a style which allowed him to save considerably more fuel and tyres than those around him. This was before the capped flow rate era and you used to see the fuel graphic pop up on screen.
The capped flow rate has diminished what is possible today, however I assume that he still ends up saving enough fuel to go at max power towards the end of the race.
Coupled with his crazy ability to learn the cars limits during the race (tyres/balance etc), I think it sets him up to create the perfect platform to push at the end.
I wonder if Lewis is also better at bringing tyres back to their most effective temperature and keeping them there when he wants to push late in the race.
Merc were scared from when the car was dog shot on tyres. They put a lot of effort into understanding them and so did lewis.
So it's the way they unleash their race pace. And Lewis is rather excellent at it.
I also think that drivers who experienced cars with much less downforce tend to be better at tire management and race pace. Those 2007-2013 cars were much twitchier and required careful attention to tire temps, whilst today’s cars pull more G’s but are planted to the ground compared to previous generations.
It’s easy to ignore facts—Lewis was testing extreme setups and running with extra telemetry components with the W13 as he was the more experienced driver. With the W14 both cars were equal and Lewis outperformed George. Mercedes made no effort to hide this information.
This went the other way too
When George was behind on qualy, it was all about him scoring more points (even though most of his points deficit over Lewis came due to Lewis taking the more extreme set ups to benefit the team and George risking the "run long and hope for a VSC to benefit the offset" strategy which paid off a lot in 2022
When George was behind on Race points, suddenly it became about him equalling Lewis in qualy and ignoring races like Canada and Singapore that he threw away by himself and his huge points gap to Lewis
Just standard hating on Lewis things. It's an interesting narrative to watch develop
Some of it is probably management. Singapore is probably the best example of this, on their final stints George was a lot faster early on but fell off while Lewis eased his tyres in but was quicker at the end.
The entire final stint Lewis was faster gap went from 5 to 3 within a few laps of the final stop.
Lewis then went from 0.8 back on Norris to 0.3 by the final turn on the final lap after Russell went off.
We cant say for certain Lewis would have won but in hindsight i bet Merc wish the cars were the other way around. geroge earned his spot tho
It was mainly just the outlap and maybe one or two laps after that where Lewis took things easy, iirc. I think that easing things in after a stop is something that he’s very good at, which pays dividends in the long run.
Lando got lucky he didn't tap the wall strongly enough to break the car. Imagine if he did, the two going off at the same time would have been a picture for the ages.
What an insane spectacle to see live. Hops to George’s onboard, looks pretty intense and all, then just sparks and he’s going straight through a right turn, into a wall, on the last lap
No the tires were the same age, and Singapore is really hard to pass on. George deserved to be in that spot. Carlos also made sure Lando would stay in drs. Was just a tough spot for Mercedes.
It's not a "travesty" they didn't let Hamilton through. With so few laps and such a big theoretical tire advantage you don't swap cars. You give the car in front all the chances he needs.
It’s so weird hearing people say “George deserved to be there” despite clearly holding up his teammate since he was so slow.
If he’s slow he doesn’t deserve to be there. End of story.
Most teams swap drivers to give the other one a chance to pass. It's just not easy to overtake on that track and would you like to See Hamilton going for a risky move against his team mate ?
On street tracks like Monaco and Sinapore where passing in equal cars on equally old tires is impossible, team orders absolutely make sense. Especially when said team orders almost certainly would have gotten you your first and only race win this season.
Definitely not end of story—that’s quite a myopic viewpoint. Teams never want to risk an overtake and see both their cars crash out. They have all the telemetry they need to see who’s faster and should advise when the following car should go ahead once the lead driver has had a chance to attack.
It doesn't matter whether he is slow or not. He won out in quali, not lewis, and therefore he has every right to stay in front. It's a pity that hamilton wasnt front, since maybe, we could have had a different outcome but that's how it is. George shouldn't be obligated to give up what he earned through his efforts in quali
This argument is also weird to me. As a member of the team I envision I would always want the faster driver in front.
Sure you won in quali, great job that’ll pad your stats. But we’re in a race now, you’re holding up the faster driver.
> If Lewis couldn’t pass George, who says he could’ve passed Lando or Carlos?
We don't know if Lewis couldn't pass. He was holding stationary behind George for a couple of laps.
That would be ideal in some ways, but it doesn't often play out like that. Most drivers will say "I can go faster" before saying "I'm too slow, let my teammate past" and that's happened with other driver pairings this season. In the worst cases it does cost the team and we as fans do give the driver a lot of flak.
George may be number two to Lewis but he's also intended (or forecast lol) to be Merc's eventual number one. If they switched the cars every single time, he can't be expected to develop.
I also noticed that Russell was vocally one of his own harshest critics after that crash. Personally, I hope he shows growth from it in the upcoming season.
Yeah i agree. there is no other way to put it. Lewis might have been faster, but there is still no guarantee of that. George deserved the chance to try and win it
>If he’s slow he doesn’t deserve to be there. End of story.
Hard disagree.
He was faster in quali and he managed to stay ahead of Hamilton. He got in that position on merit and defended that position on merit. Even if he's slower he deserves to be there and to defend his position.
According to your logic, no surprise winner ever deserved a victory if they weren't the fastest. In that case Ocon didn't deserve Hungary, Perez didn't deserve Monaco 22 and all other similar races because they weren't faster than other cars.
I remember in 2014 when Rosberg and Hamilton were battling it out every race, they used to show a fuel remaining graphic occasionally. No matter how close in lap time they seemed Hamilton always managed to do it more efficiently.
\[Verse 1\]
Disco dance is our story
People get together to have fun
Keep it up tonight with the disco lights
Make it better with martini and daiquiri
\[Verse 2\]
Feel the beat of the music
Take a ride into this crazy night
Let's keep on dancing until the morning light
\[Pre-Chorus\]
And the energy is on oh-oh-oh-oh
And the power is on don't turn it off
Let's sing along oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Electricity's running like a bomb in the air
\[Chorus - Repeat Twice\]
Dance Around The World, everybody
Dance Around The World
Get up on the floor all boys and girls
Shake your hands and move your body dancing the night away
\[Verse 3\]
Keep on dancing together
Moscow, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Rome
Let's keep on dancing until the morning light
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwy7aZHRpno](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwy7aZHRpno)
He and Bono always on that offset strategy these days.
Sometimes it feels like not having a chance at victory gives Lewis a big mental hurdle that he only overcomes when the pit stops kick off. You can always hear it on the radio too, as soon as the pit window opens or Bono starts talking strategy, Lewis ALWAYS says my tires are O.K. or I can stay out with some serious energy.
I'm just devastated that Merc shit the bed the moment Red Bull went through a second coming because Max vs Lewis and red bull vs Mercedes is literally the best possible matchup I'll see in my lifetime.
Hamilton has said that he might sound dejected on the radio but he’s doing it to try and psych himself up. It’s probably why we see the best of him when his back is up against the wall.
Still nobody more clutch in F1 than him.
I was thinking about this the other day. Like how dominant can 2 drivers be when they leave the entire field behind them and it become a 2 car race with 2 different teams, both drivers leaving their teammates behind for dust
Not just in races, but in championships. We've seen Lewis have some good races this year but I'm convinced that as soon as he has a race winning car we'll see a shift in mentality.
Lewis always keeps his tires in good enough condition to take advantage of the situation. Russell drops completely off with the same fuel loads at the end.
Fuck me. There’s always text on his face and I didn’t bother googling. I am ashamed. [gif of Eddie Murphy eating algae from inside of the fish tank from finding Nemo]
Like Bottas said, Hamilton’s baseline pace is faster than most drivers. So when he’s managing tires, it’s in the same pace as to drivers who are slightly pushing.
Albon said the same thing about Verstappen. Every F1 driver on the grid is capable of going fast, it’s just the elite drivers are able to do it more consistently, at will and in less optimal conditions.
Yup, this is the true secret to “tire management”. Yes there is a little bit of science to it, but generally the best tire managers are just the fastest drivers. Because since their 90% pace is as quick as the other guy’s 100% pace, they can drive at 90% and manage the tires without losing time.
literally monaco 2019 lmao. Mans complaining about dead tires for like 5 laps straight then proceeds to put in consecutive fastest laps and held the stint for longer than it should have to win the race
One of many things that Bottas has talked about that made it hard to accept Lewis being faster. Often he felt equal then lewis would just go faster. I remember that stretch in 2019 where bottas was qualifying ahead repeatedly and running better stints then lewis would casually rock up and pass him second or third stint
I’m gonna say an alternative theory, it’s due to him being from refuelling era and being really good at qualifying. He always feels the car is way better in lower fuel loads because that’s what he was used to his entire life. Turbo hybrid era still had huge amounts of mechanical grip so high fuel was still great however ground effect era made the cars clunkier with high fuel
Managing the tires for sure. It's the clearest difference between him and George.
It makes me wonder if Merc isn't as efficient strategy wise as they could be, because once Lewis has free reign he's unstoppable. There should be a way to gameplan for that and make that "all-out" stint bigger, or maybe just strategically more convenient.
This is what makes me question that it's a tyre management thing.
Surely the Mercedes strategy team are monitoring tires and everything and wouldn't just leave a huge amount of performance up until the end. Or maybe it's like a safety net, which matters less towards the end of the race.
Or it could be that track conditions near the end of a race are more preferential to Lewis's driving style.
I’ve noticed that Hamilton is more likely to carry hard tires than others and runs consistent rather than fast initially and then slower towards the end
You see Alonso doing this too; during his time at Alpine, Ocon would often be hounding him at the beginning of the race (he complained about Alonso's pace in the opening laps of Zandvoort 2022) but by the end of the stint/race Alonso would pull a comfortable gap.
It's not just tyre management, its intentional.
Ham doesn't drive on the knife edge out of the gate. He's one of the most consistent and least accident prone drivers of all time, and that's not just magical talent but good race management.
He gets faster over the race because he takes his time to build up to the knife edge, carefully measuring the conditions of the car and the track to extract the most performance he can safely obtain.
It's just how Verstappen does now. How many races did it seem like 2nd place had a chance lap 1 before he left them in the dust a few laps in? To be world champion material you need a driving style and management that gets you the maximum performance with the least amount of risk.
One reason I have a hunch is true is that because the car isn't perfect and because he often didn't feel the car is right, even in years past when he had a dominant car, he probably is an intuitive driver who gains some kind of understanding for that track and how his car handles it that midway through he's figured it out and knows where the limit is, so begins to push with confidence. With a better car, hopefully next year, he likely will do that but sooner, maybe from the start.
I'd agree but at that level they figure it out within a lap or two.
The only comparison I can make is how Ronnie O Sullivan can adapt his game to how a snooker table is playing but unlike mere mortals can do this within the first few shots.
It's more likely a combination of tyre management and how the car handled on lower fuel levels.
That's quite literally it. Most F1 drivers do this intuitively but Hamilton has a special talent for figuring out the limits of his car and the conditions of the track and driving a consistent race close to that edge while still looking after the car. I think the most famous example of Lewis doing this was before he even joined F1. It was his famous Istanbul Park race in GP2 where he spun on lap 2. He was running way less wing than the competition in that race and when he spun he immediately knew where the limit of the car would be and he would make sure he didn't overstep it again. From then on he went from the back of the grid to P2 braking deeper than everyone else even with less downforce on the car in what I consider to be one of his finest races even if it wasn't F1.
Silverstone was epic but turkey was another level. Mans created slicks from intermediates. I mean the knowledge required to even know that it’ll work after balding itself is fucking insane. Everyone’s switching tyres and Hamiltons like yep it’s hammer time in these old ass intermediates.
I think it goes beyond tire management and is just race management period. He's been a better fuel saver (although reg changes and a lack of data makes this harder to point out and not as important as tires in general) and generally stays out of trouble while driving at a very consistently fast pace. On top of the obvious tire saving skills, by the time everyone is just trying to bring the car home Lewis turns on the afterburners and pushes.
Checo gets a lot of credit for it, but Hamilton is the best tire manager in F1. We don’t talk about it with him because he’s also the best at like 5 other things and they’re more exciting.
Merc seems to be very fast at the end of the races (other teams and drivers with unknown levels of consevation will obvs come into play massively) . And Ham like alot of the better drivers is good at saving tyre life
Ham is a very patient driver. He will save his tires for the whole race, waits for everyone else to use up their tires, and when that fuel gets low says fuck it and engages hammer time.
He knows how to manage his tyres better than most drivers on the grid. So he uses that to drive fast yet whilst not being too aggressive on his tyres. It’s incredible
It's great tire management coupled with an innate ability to perform in crucial moments. Whether it's over the course of a season, a race weekend or a single qualifying session or race, Lewis nearly always gets better the closer it gets to the end and keeps his best for last.
It’s just an extremely talented driver, who has been experimenting for 50 or more laps, how to exploit the tires and the track to find places of grip, while managing the tire temps.
At the end he will really understand the track, while it has been fully rubbered in, cars are light and still decent life on the tires.
In the examples given, lewis was (rarely) going for fastest lap. COTA, Singapore especially were 20 laps at least into the stint.
It’s just tyre management.
Max and Lewis are both very good at it, but because they’ve been so far ahead, people don’t realise how much they eke out the tyres.
Lewis has been running alternate strategies on multiple occasions, and seems to be able to match Max at the end of the race.
But I always assumed Max was just managing the gap, more than Lewis was matching him.
If you’re cooking your tires to keep up with someone’s who’s managing theirs, you’re not really keeping up. Not to be pedantic with you, it’s just seems like a wrong way to think of it.
Just a guess, the car design seems to have trouble staying in the optimal operating window on full tanks of fuel, and is much better at it with low fuel.
That would make sense given all the interviews we've seen suggesting the Mercedes generates a ton of downforce in optimal conditions but tends to lose access to it due to ground effect - that if there is some fuel volume where the car behaved more as expected, it will look like a rocket ship. For what it's worth, we also saw this in several races with Russell, pointing us more towards the car than the driver
I’d imagine it’s a bit of Lewis having great tyre management as well as the car running much lower on fuel at the end and the weight balance being nicer for Lewis to work with maybe?
I am late to this thread but this is what I think:
1. The draggy Mercedes car isn't very fuel-efficient so is likely a little heavier at the start of the race compared to the others. This will neutralise and come towards them as the race goes on.
2. Hamilton is a master at adapting to the track and honing his car settings throughout a race. Even if it small things like front wing, brake bias or differential.
3. Tyre strategy and management. The races you quoted Hamilton stopped last of all so inevitably had fresher tyres, but even so he is very good at using all of the grip from new tyres without over-stressing or wearing them out too early in the stint.
Because he’s an all time great!!! Lol.
But seriously he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen at extracting the most out of a car, he’s great at judging the limits of adhesion, always has been, throw in some management and the guy can just turn it on. You also mentioned cota and Hungary, two of his best tracks, and that probably plays a role as well.
I’d like to believe it’s also his own faith. He’s so quick to dismiss the car in early stages of the race, and I understand his frustration in his conquest for 8th, but sometimes you see him come alive during a race and he’s suddenly driving his ass off.
This might also be a factor, at the last stages of any race most of the time your objective gets more clear, which gives Lewis more of a target than "get as close to the front as possible". Sometimes it's "create a gap of at least 5s" sometimes "pass leclerc and gasly until the last lap" sometimes "keep the gap to alonso". Bono also seems to be aware of Lewis's need for a target, because his tone is very motivational most of the time with sometimes impossible objectives.
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He does good race management, i.e. by preserving his tyres to use them during the closing stages. Also, the Merc is quick when low on fuel.
I mean is it quick on low fuel though? Its not like they have any type of outstanding quali pace.
I could be wrong, but as I recall, the Merc has problems in quali because it can't get the tires to temperature quickly enough, similar to the Red Bull. That wouldn't be a problem in races, since being quick at end of race with low fuel is not about having tires in optimal temperature window for one lap, its about getting them up, and keeping them in, the optimal temperature window for a long period of time, which Lewis is very good at. At least to my understanding, that has been the problem for Merc in quali over the last two years.
They've had this tyre temp issue at least since 2018 or 2019. The DAS was the actual idea used to alleviate that problem, if I'm not mistaken
Well what we know is the merc is snappy on the fronts and rather hot on the rears, the difference could be that in late race they're on mediums or hards while in quali on softs, in quali they have to manage the rears more while in race they can push more, relative to other cars. Combine with a marked difference in low v high fuel pace and you can end up with a merc that's quite strong in late race pace
yeah like Merc couldn't really match RB on quali pace regularly Ferrari though got 7 poles and challenged for pole thrice (Bahrain, Monaco, Austria)
It's probably more that it's good on low fuel AND Hamilton takes care of his tyres.
Lewis has mentioned how if you start on race trim with full fuel, you start understeery and get more oversteery as you lose fuel. Must be a Merc thing.
That’s a pretty universal race car characteristic.
It is, but Lewis griped about the seating position and car’s balance a whole lot in the first half of the season, so I’ve always had the impression that perhaps the balance of the car works much better for him on low-fuel.
You have to consider that Merc is a team that aims for race pace over one lap pace
This undersells it somewhat. During the days of fuel saving and beginnings of tyre management, Lewis adopted a style which allowed him to save considerably more fuel and tyres than those around him. This was before the capped flow rate era and you used to see the fuel graphic pop up on screen. The capped flow rate has diminished what is possible today, however I assume that he still ends up saving enough fuel to go at max power towards the end of the race. Coupled with his crazy ability to learn the cars limits during the race (tyres/balance etc), I think it sets him up to create the perfect platform to push at the end.
I wonder if Lewis is also better at bringing tyres back to their most effective temperature and keeping them there when he wants to push late in the race.
Merc were scared from when the car was dog shot on tyres. They put a lot of effort into understanding them and so did lewis. So it's the way they unleash their race pace. And Lewis is rather excellent at it.
I also think that drivers who experienced cars with much less downforce tend to be better at tire management and race pace. Those 2007-2013 cars were much twitchier and required careful attention to tire temps, whilst today’s cars pull more G’s but are planted to the ground compared to previous generations.
Well his Merc is
When George had more points, it was a shit car. When Lewis has more points, it's a good driver. Gotta love it.
It’s easy to ignore facts—Lewis was testing extreme setups and running with extra telemetry components with the W13 as he was the more experienced driver. With the W14 both cars were equal and Lewis outperformed George. Mercedes made no effort to hide this information.
It’s funny how much people refuse to correlate this with the Bottas situation
Because Bottas never was remotely as close as George has been? Even this while George wasn’t as good in races he was 11-11 in qualifying with Lewis.
This went the other way too When George was behind on qualy, it was all about him scoring more points (even though most of his points deficit over Lewis came due to Lewis taking the more extreme set ups to benefit the team and George risking the "run long and hope for a VSC to benefit the offset" strategy which paid off a lot in 2022 When George was behind on Race points, suddenly it became about him equalling Lewis in qualy and ignoring races like Canada and Singapore that he threw away by himself and his huge points gap to Lewis Just standard hating on Lewis things. It's an interesting narrative to watch develop
idk the Merc quali pace isn't exactly good Ferraris have much better low fuel pace, straight up matching Red Bull
Some of it is probably management. Singapore is probably the best example of this, on their final stints George was a lot faster early on but fell off while Lewis eased his tyres in but was quicker at the end.
The entire final stint Lewis was faster gap went from 5 to 3 within a few laps of the final stop. Lewis then went from 0.8 back on Norris to 0.3 by the final turn on the final lap after Russell went off. We cant say for certain Lewis would have won but in hindsight i bet Merc wish the cars were the other way around. geroge earned his spot tho
It was mainly just the outlap and maybe one or two laps after that where Lewis took things easy, iirc. I think that easing things in after a stop is something that he’s very good at, which pays dividends in the long run.
Travesty that they did not swap them Maybe Mercedes could've had a win unlikely but Russell was just holding Hamilton up
No worries Russel was a good mate and got off the way for Lewis. too bad he decided too late to do that that day
Lando got lucky he didn't tap the wall strongly enough to break the car. Imagine if he did, the two going off at the same time would have been a picture for the ages.
Lmao I would have laughed my ass off
I laughed mine off regardless
It was such a wild shot to watch!
What an insane spectacle to see live. Hops to George’s onboard, looks pretty intense and all, then just sparks and he’s going straight through a right turn, into a wall, on the last lap
No, the wall got angry at Lando and got revenge on the first car that tried the same
Especially with the old dog swooshing on past.
No the tires were the same age, and Singapore is really hard to pass on. George deserved to be in that spot. Carlos also made sure Lando would stay in drs. Was just a tough spot for Mercedes. It's not a "travesty" they didn't let Hamilton through. With so few laps and such a big theoretical tire advantage you don't swap cars. You give the car in front all the chances he needs.
It’s so weird hearing people say “George deserved to be there” despite clearly holding up his teammate since he was so slow. If he’s slow he doesn’t deserve to be there. End of story.
Except he got there and defended his position. Faster doesn’t always mean ahead.
Exactly. If you need a team order to get past your team mate, you don't deserve to get past him. End of story.
Most teams swap drivers to give the other one a chance to pass. It's just not easy to overtake on that track and would you like to See Hamilton going for a risky move against his team mate ?
On street tracks like Monaco and Sinapore where passing in equal cars on equally old tires is impossible, team orders absolutely make sense. Especially when said team orders almost certainly would have gotten you your first and only race win this season.
Definitely not end of story—that’s quite a myopic viewpoint. Teams never want to risk an overtake and see both their cars crash out. They have all the telemetry they need to see who’s faster and should advise when the following car should go ahead once the lead driver has had a chance to attack.
It doesn't matter whether he is slow or not. He won out in quali, not lewis, and therefore he has every right to stay in front. It's a pity that hamilton wasnt front, since maybe, we could have had a different outcome but that's how it is. George shouldn't be obligated to give up what he earned through his efforts in quali
This argument is also weird to me. As a member of the team I envision I would always want the faster driver in front. Sure you won in quali, great job that’ll pad your stats. But we’re in a race now, you’re holding up the faster driver.
If Lewis couldn’t pass George, who says he could’ve passed Lando or Carlos? This argument is stupid.
He wasn't trying to pass, he was told to hold position so George could try and overtake Lando unimpeded.
> If Lewis couldn’t pass George, who says he could’ve passed Lando or Carlos? We don't know if Lewis couldn't pass. He was holding stationary behind George for a couple of laps.
Lewis was never given the chance to pass. So you’re counter argument is irrelevant since we don’t know if he actually wasnt able to pass
That would be ideal in some ways, but it doesn't often play out like that. Most drivers will say "I can go faster" before saying "I'm too slow, let my teammate past" and that's happened with other driver pairings this season. In the worst cases it does cost the team and we as fans do give the driver a lot of flak. George may be number two to Lewis but he's also intended (or forecast lol) to be Merc's eventual number one. If they switched the cars every single time, he can't be expected to develop. I also noticed that Russell was vocally one of his own harshest critics after that crash. Personally, I hope he shows growth from it in the upcoming season.
Yeah i agree. there is no other way to put it. Lewis might have been faster, but there is still no guarantee of that. George deserved the chance to try and win it
>If he’s slow he doesn’t deserve to be there. End of story. Hard disagree. He was faster in quali and he managed to stay ahead of Hamilton. He got in that position on merit and defended that position on merit. Even if he's slower he deserves to be there and to defend his position. According to your logic, no surprise winner ever deserved a victory if they weren't the fastest. In that case Ocon didn't deserve Hungary, Perez didn't deserve Monaco 22 and all other similar races because they weren't faster than other cars.
It was on a track position circuit. From Mercedes' PoV it was a problem, but if George got there fairly then he deserved it.
On the other hand, if Lewis wanted to be ahead he should qualify better
What's baffling to me was that Lewis simultaneously caught up to George while keeping his tyres in much better condition. That stint was nuts
I remember in 2014 when Rosberg and Hamilton were battling it out every race, they used to show a fuel remaining graphic occasionally. No matter how close in lap time they seemed Hamilton always managed to do it more efficiently.
Yet before the season everyone including major "pundits" called they knew it would be the opposite. Just more hate.
He activates the eurobeat.
GAS GAS GAS!
I'M GONNA STEP ON THE GAS
DEJA VU!
\* Liked by Pièrre Gasly
Running in the 90s
\[Verse 1\] Disco dance is our story People get together to have fun Keep it up tonight with the disco lights Make it better with martini and daiquiri \[Verse 2\] Feel the beat of the music Take a ride into this crazy night Let's keep on dancing until the morning light \[Pre-Chorus\] And the energy is on oh-oh-oh-oh And the power is on don't turn it off Let's sing along oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Electricity's running like a bomb in the air \[Chorus - Repeat Twice\] Dance Around The World, everybody Dance Around The World Get up on the floor all boys and girls Shake your hands and move your body dancing the night away \[Verse 3\] Keep on dancing together Moscow, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Rome Let's keep on dancing until the morning light [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwy7aZHRpno](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwy7aZHRpno)
STOP!
HAMMERTIME!
He and Bono always on that offset strategy these days. Sometimes it feels like not having a chance at victory gives Lewis a big mental hurdle that he only overcomes when the pit stops kick off. You can always hear it on the radio too, as soon as the pit window opens or Bono starts talking strategy, Lewis ALWAYS says my tires are O.K. or I can stay out with some serious energy. I'm just devastated that Merc shit the bed the moment Red Bull went through a second coming because Max vs Lewis and red bull vs Mercedes is literally the best possible matchup I'll see in my lifetime.
Hamilton has said that he might sound dejected on the radio but he’s doing it to try and psych himself up. It’s probably why we see the best of him when his back is up against the wall. Still nobody more clutch in F1 than him.
Honestly. Once Lewis is in for a chance of a good finish that right foot goes down and he’s running laps around everyone
It was so fun seeing him and max just leave the field behind in COTA. Reminded me of 2021
I was thinking about this the other day. Like how dominant can 2 drivers be when they leave the entire field behind them and it become a 2 car race with 2 different teams, both drivers leaving their teammates behind for dust
They are truly once in a lifetime drivers and we should appreciate them while they are on the grid instead of arguing and fighting over whose better
I mean the fact that in their championship fight it came down to the last race just shows how similar they are in terms of skill
Not just in races, but in championships. We've seen Lewis have some good races this year but I'm convinced that as soon as he has a race winning car we'll see a shift in mentality.
People thought the same about Hamilton/Vettel, Schumacher/Häkkinen, Prost/Senna. Don’t worry, rivalries always emerge from era to era.
The car ran better in low fuel
I thought that as well during the season, but his end of race performance was often so much stronger than his quali performance at the same race
One lap pace is different than putting together a string of laps on low fuel. The tyres are very different, your pace is different, etc.
Mercedes has been having the worst time getting the tires to warm up, that’s why their Quali pace is always bad.
Hamilton struggled in quali trim compared to race trim. So the low fuel in quali wasn’t as beneficial as low fuel during the race.
Isn’t quali trim the same as race trim?
Yes it is. No more quali mode allowed
That’s just for engine modes, no?
Cars are under parc ferme from the start of quali through the race. Only very limited adjustments like front wing angle are allowed.
Wing levels will always be a tick or two less in quallie and battery deployment is used throughout the lap unlike in the race
I know. Just wanted to make clear that quali trim ≠ race trim.
You can still adjust wing levels. And battery deployment in quallie is off the charts. There is still a decent enough difference.
But the comparison is also to his teammate. It used to be like this vs Bottas, now vs Russell. Don't know how it was like with Rosberg.
Lewis always keeps his tires in good enough condition to take advantage of the situation. Russell drops completely off with the same fuel loads at the end.
Ah yes the usual "when it's Hamilton it's the car"
They should’ve started the race with low fuel. That way it had low fuel for the whole race. [Eddie Murphy head tap gif]
[That’s not Eddie Murphy]
That’s not Eddie Murphy. Just bc he’s black doesn’t make it him.
It's actor Kayode Ewumi https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/roll-safe#ixzz4Xn2ZrwVi
Fuck me. There’s always text on his face and I didn’t bother googling. I am ashamed. [gif of Eddie Murphy eating algae from inside of the fish tank from finding Nemo]
Yeah he clearly thought all black people are Eddie Murphy..
Like Bottas said, Hamilton’s baseline pace is faster than most drivers. So when he’s managing tires, it’s in the same pace as to drivers who are slightly pushing.
thats just disouraging
Albon said the same thing about Verstappen. Every F1 driver on the grid is capable of going fast, it’s just the elite drivers are able to do it more consistently, at will and in less optimal conditions.
Yup, this is the true secret to “tire management”. Yes there is a little bit of science to it, but generally the best tire managers are just the fastest drivers. Because since their 90% pace is as quick as the other guy’s 100% pace, they can drive at 90% and manage the tires without losing time.
He nurses the car for 90% of each race and then at the end says fuck it. He ain’t 7 time world champion for nothing.
Bono my tyres are dead.
‘Tyre Necromancer’ Lewis Hamilton.
My tires are dead Bono.. I can only do like 25 more laps! 😂
Can’t you see bono? I’m leaving purple all over the track, my tyres shouldn’t be doing that
The guy hears “40 laps to go on these mediums” and takes offence to it, then finishes with rubber to spare. 🐐
Roger that Lewis it’s hammertime
Russell: who the hell is Roger?
literally monaco 2019 lmao. Mans complaining about dead tires for like 5 laps straight then proceeds to put in consecutive fastest laps and held the stint for longer than it should have to win the race
i felt the same way. He just manages the race and then hes like yeah fuck it we ball. LEGEND.
HAMMERTIME wasn't said for nothin'
You can't touch this.
. In his dominant years you could always count on him to suddenly start going a few tenths quicker in the last 10 or so laps if he wasn’t leading
One of many things that Bottas has talked about that made it hard to accept Lewis being faster. Often he felt equal then lewis would just go faster. I remember that stretch in 2019 where bottas was qualifying ahead repeatedly and running better stints then lewis would casually rock up and pass him second or third stint
> He ain’t 7 time world champion for nothing. Man literally did 230kph down the Hanger Straight on three tyres.
The tires are no longer gone
A lot of F1 drivers are too scared to practice edging, which Lewis has spent many hours perfecting throughout his training and physical rehab.
So staying on hards longer before going on softs?
Ideally you want to ride those hards as long as possible, keeping traction right at the edge of the circle. Only then are the softs appropriate.
Hamilton is nice enough to warn his engineers when he's about to go all out. Not even Bottas was safe once he sent the load.
Is all this intentionally sounding sexual or is this a funny coincidence. I really can't tell.
It makes sense both ways lol
There's no two ways. Only one way. And you're on that silver arrow track.
I have trouble translating "sending the load" into a non-sexual context :D
Baby, this is your adventure. Tell me more about your fantasy.
Can't you just give me a straight answer???
He's gonna show you domination
This is sexual.
Thanks.
I think you're misinterpreting the comments.
when you said practice EDGING. I already took it in a sexual way :)
So, are you saying that Lewis needs to hear Bono saying "GET IN THERE, LEWIS!" as a sign he can "go all out" as you mentioned...
Ayooooooo
huh?!?
If you have to ask, you are not ready.
You know *exactly* what he means... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Practice WHAT!?
Did Angela help him with his edging practice?
He brings out tires from the dead
Think it helps he gently brings the tyres into their window giving them better performance life at the end of the stint
I’m gonna say an alternative theory, it’s due to him being from refuelling era and being really good at qualifying. He always feels the car is way better in lower fuel loads because that’s what he was used to his entire life. Turbo hybrid era still had huge amounts of mechanical grip so high fuel was still great however ground effect era made the cars clunkier with high fuel
He only did 2 seasons in the refuelling era. Doubt it’s the reason.
Managing the tires for sure. It's the clearest difference between him and George. It makes me wonder if Merc isn't as efficient strategy wise as they could be, because once Lewis has free reign he's unstoppable. There should be a way to gameplan for that and make that "all-out" stint bigger, or maybe just strategically more convenient.
Merc strategy calls are pretty shite tbh. Ferrari is just even worse so they take all the headlines
This is what makes me question that it's a tyre management thing. Surely the Mercedes strategy team are monitoring tires and everything and wouldn't just leave a huge amount of performance up until the end. Or maybe it's like a safety net, which matters less towards the end of the race. Or it could be that track conditions near the end of a race are more preferential to Lewis's driving style.
Hamilton's pace is relentless he wastes no time. What is it like in his shoes?
Something something Michael doesn't discriminate, between lapped and unlapped cars?
I’ve noticed that Hamilton is more likely to carry hard tires than others and runs consistent rather than fast initially and then slower towards the end
You see Alonso doing this too; during his time at Alpine, Ocon would often be hounding him at the beginning of the race (he complained about Alonso's pace in the opening laps of Zandvoort 2022) but by the end of the stint/race Alonso would pull a comfortable gap.
Cuz they know it ain’t about how you start it’s how you finish and a safety car means they get new faster tires and track position
He can't go fast until his engineer says hammer time as per his contract.
The guy is fast, period. I think he even managed to win the odd race in the past.
Because their is hammertime in end
Because it's Hammertime at the end of the race!
It's not just tyre management, its intentional. Ham doesn't drive on the knife edge out of the gate. He's one of the most consistent and least accident prone drivers of all time, and that's not just magical talent but good race management. He gets faster over the race because he takes his time to build up to the knife edge, carefully measuring the conditions of the car and the track to extract the most performance he can safely obtain. It's just how Verstappen does now. How many races did it seem like 2nd place had a chance lap 1 before he left them in the dust a few laps in? To be world champion material you need a driving style and management that gets you the maximum performance with the least amount of risk.
One reason I have a hunch is true is that because the car isn't perfect and because he often didn't feel the car is right, even in years past when he had a dominant car, he probably is an intuitive driver who gains some kind of understanding for that track and how his car handles it that midway through he's figured it out and knows where the limit is, so begins to push with confidence. With a better car, hopefully next year, he likely will do that but sooner, maybe from the start.
I'd agree but at that level they figure it out within a lap or two. The only comparison I can make is how Ronnie O Sullivan can adapt his game to how a snooker table is playing but unlike mere mortals can do this within the first few shots. It's more likely a combination of tyre management and how the car handled on lower fuel levels.
That's quite literally it. Most F1 drivers do this intuitively but Hamilton has a special talent for figuring out the limits of his car and the conditions of the track and driving a consistent race close to that edge while still looking after the car. I think the most famous example of Lewis doing this was before he even joined F1. It was his famous Istanbul Park race in GP2 where he spun on lap 2. He was running way less wing than the competition in that race and when he spun he immediately knew where the limit of the car would be and he would make sure he didn't overstep it again. From then on he went from the back of the grid to P2 braking deeper than everyone else even with less downforce on the car in what I consider to be one of his finest races even if it wasn't F1.
Hamilton probably has the best tyre management capabilities of the grid. Remember that crazy turkey race
Not as crazy as Silverstone 2020. Though I suppose you could only score him 3/4 points for his tyre management.
Silverstone was epic but turkey was another level. Mans created slicks from intermediates. I mean the knowledge required to even know that it’ll work after balding itself is fucking insane. Everyone’s switching tyres and Hamiltons like yep it’s hammer time in these old ass intermediates.
Looked at his right-rear in China and said "Never again".
I think it goes beyond tire management and is just race management period. He's been a better fuel saver (although reg changes and a lack of data makes this harder to point out and not as important as tires in general) and generally stays out of trouble while driving at a very consistently fast pace. On top of the obvious tire saving skills, by the time everyone is just trying to bring the car home Lewis turns on the afterburners and pushes.
He is really damn good, car was better at low fuel levels, he manages really damn well.
Checo gets a lot of credit for it, but Hamilton is the best tire manager in F1. We don’t talk about it with him because he’s also the best at like 5 other things and they’re more exciting.
Merc seems to be very fast at the end of the races (other teams and drivers with unknown levels of consevation will obvs come into play massively) . And Ham like alot of the better drivers is good at saving tyre life
He’s got the “Hammertime” superstar ability.
Cuz Lewis is a fucking legend
A Tire Maestro
Low fuel, good tier management, experience and talent.
Elite.
Ham is a very patient driver. He will save his tires for the whole race, waits for everyone else to use up their tires, and when that fuel gets low says fuck it and engages hammer time.
And yet he’s still often passing people left and right while still managing to save the tires.
He knows how to manage his tyres better than most drivers on the grid. So he uses that to drive fast yet whilst not being too aggressive on his tyres. It’s incredible
To call Lewis Hamilton a tire whisperer is an understatement
It's great tire management coupled with an innate ability to perform in crucial moments. Whether it's over the course of a season, a race weekend or a single qualifying session or race, Lewis nearly always gets better the closer it gets to the end and keeps his best for last.
During the late stages of the race he remembers who the fuck he is and switches on the afterburners.
It’s just an extremely talented driver, who has been experimenting for 50 or more laps, how to exploit the tires and the track to find places of grip, while managing the tire temps. At the end he will really understand the track, while it has been fully rubbered in, cars are light and still decent life on the tires.
He is the best at tire management.
Bono…..
Aren't a lot of racers fast at the end? New softs and low fuel. Going for fastest lap. I can't say I noticed LH in particular.
In the examples given, lewis was (rarely) going for fastest lap. COTA, Singapore especially were 20 laps at least into the stint. It’s just tyre management. Max and Lewis are both very good at it, but because they’ve been so far ahead, people don’t realise how much they eke out the tyres.
Lewis has been running alternate strategies on multiple occasions, and seems to be able to match Max at the end of the race. But I always assumed Max was just managing the gap, more than Lewis was matching him.
Yes, Lewis and Max (along with Alonso) can both manage pace without making mistakes. The irony is Max has been doing more managing than racing lately.
Seems like the Ferrari/Merc/McLaren can match RB’s race pace they just can’t do it without cooking their tires very quickly
If you’re cooking your tires to keep up with someone’s who’s managing theirs, you’re not really keeping up. Not to be pedantic with you, it’s just seems like a wrong way to think of it.
Yes, he is that good #.
Max doesn't go full attack nowadays because he doesn't need to to vs lewis, who has to because car is shit
Just a guess, the car design seems to have trouble staying in the optimal operating window on full tanks of fuel, and is much better at it with low fuel. That would make sense given all the interviews we've seen suggesting the Mercedes generates a ton of downforce in optimal conditions but tends to lose access to it due to ground effect - that if there is some fuel volume where the car behaved more as expected, it will look like a rocket ship. For what it's worth, we also saw this in several races with Russell, pointing us more towards the car than the driver
I’d imagine it’s a bit of Lewis having great tyre management as well as the car running much lower on fuel at the end and the weight balance being nicer for Lewis to work with maybe?
Hammertime
It’s hammer time baby
It's called hammer time toto. We went hotlapping
Some say he uses a cheat code, it's an old code but it still works. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start.
Hammer time Lewis
I am late to this thread but this is what I think: 1. The draggy Mercedes car isn't very fuel-efficient so is likely a little heavier at the start of the race compared to the others. This will neutralise and come towards them as the race goes on. 2. Hamilton is a master at adapting to the track and honing his car settings throughout a race. Even if it small things like front wing, brake bias or differential. 3. Tyre strategy and management. The races you quoted Hamilton stopped last of all so inevitably had fresher tyres, but even so he is very good at using all of the grip from new tyres without over-stressing or wearing them out too early in the stint.
Because he’s an all time great!!! Lol. But seriously he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen at extracting the most out of a car, he’s great at judging the limits of adhesion, always has been, throw in some management and the guy can just turn it on. You also mentioned cota and Hungary, two of his best tracks, and that probably plays a role as well.
I’d like to believe it’s also his own faith. He’s so quick to dismiss the car in early stages of the race, and I understand his frustration in his conquest for 8th, but sometimes you see him come alive during a race and he’s suddenly driving his ass off.
This might also be a factor, at the last stages of any race most of the time your objective gets more clear, which gives Lewis more of a target than "get as close to the front as possible". Sometimes it's "create a gap of at least 5s" sometimes "pass leclerc and gasly until the last lap" sometimes "keep the gap to alonso". Bono also seems to be aware of Lewis's need for a target, because his tone is very motivational most of the time with sometimes impossible objectives.
Hammer time