Lewis Hamilton was having his most competitive weekend since the start of the 2022 season, as the Briton had qualified in the top five and was close to the Ferraris by the end of the race at Silverstone. In addition, the Mercedes man managed to lead the test at times, prolonging his stint with medium tires, before putting on a set of hard ones that would hold him up to the checkered flag.
The degradation of his tires seemed good, and he was able to extend his stop until lap 33 , at which point he cut time from Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who passed through the pitlane on lap 20 and 25 respectively.
Instead of going for the softer tyre, which would have worn out sooner, the Silver Arrows went for the harder tyre, a safer move, but Red Bull claimed it was a mistake, as their boss Christian Horner acknowledged.
The Englishman believes that the Germans ruined his options in the fight for victory with Ferrari: “The truth is that I was surprised that Lewis [Hamilton], with the number of laps remaining and the degradation he had, did not choose the soft “.
“He put the hard on lap 33, and I actually thought he was going to go on the soft, because that would have made it a lot easier for him to compensate for the grip, I think that’s got rid of [Ferrari’s] problem,” he said.
Horner also said he had doubts about the strategic decisions of the Italians, having failed to get Sainz out of Leclerc’s way early in the race when he was going faster, and that he also did not understand why they pitted the Monegasque when he came out last. safety car.
“Everyone is different, right? Every team is different,” he said about what Ferrari did. “I guess the decision I understood the least was not to bring both of his cars into the pitlane, or at least put the soft on Charles [Leclerc].”
The Safety Car caused by Esteban Ocon’s mid-track stop allowed many to fit a new set of soft tyres, as did Sainz, something others copied. That made Leclerc find himself in the lead, but at a disadvantage, so he lost positions until he was fourth.
“[Hamilton] had a free stop,” Horner acknowledged. “And when you’re the leader, it’s the hardest thing in the world, but I think even if Lewis had stayed out [without stopping], with the advantage of the softs, they [Ferrari] would have overtaken him.
The decision of the Maranello team meant that the Monegasque lost places, but not points compared to the world leader, Max Verstappen, who had problems with his car and was seventh.
Horner admitted that things could have been worse after the Dutchman dropped positions with the puncture: “On a day where we’ve had two cars that weren’t at their best, Sergio [Pérez] has widened the gap on Charles [ Leclerc], consolidating his second place, and Max [Verstappen] has only given up six points to Charles.”
“I think that in constructors we have only lost 13 points, so it could have been worse,” said the head of the Red Bull team.
