Lewis Hamilton is upset with his Mercedes team after the Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished second behind George Russell, who managed to complete the race with just one pit stop.
Did Hamilton want to do a one-stop in Belgium?
During the final laps, Hamilton was closing in on Russell. With fresher tires, he seemed poised to overtake but couldn’t get past due to Russell’s strong defense. While Russell stretched his tire stint impressively long, Hamilton found himself wondering why he wasn’t given the same strategy.
“George did a great job today. It was a fantastic effort to go to one stop,” said Hamilton. “It was pretty smooth sailing [for me], to be honest. I was fully in control. I had plenty of pace and tyres and just didn’t end up as planned.”
Fans might think that this could have been an easy win for Hamilton if not for the pit stop decision.
Hamilton continued, “You could have heard what I said to the team most of the time. I think the tyres were pretty good. I still had plenty of tyres and I was going quicker. I didn’t want to stop.” He added that he felt surprised when he initially took the lead and started pulling away from everyone else.
“It felt fully under control,” he said with frustration evident in his voice. “I’ve not had that for three years and so that’s why it was also a strange way to finish it.”
Despite his disappointment, Hamilton acknowledged that ending with a one-two finish before the summer break is still positive news for Mercedes .
Now heading into his last summer break as a Mercedes driver, Hamilton will soon join Ferrari in 2025. He hopes to close in on Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, and others during the final 10 races of this season.
What do you think about this?
