2019 Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay, 20-22 September

[LM10]

It seems utterly simple to me.

Lead car getting the pit choice is a standard thing in F1 for every team, and every other team in every other motorsport, it's just the done thing. So if Leclerc pits and Verstappen does same lap, as said Ferrari probably get 1st and 4th, maybe worse.

So you can choose to bring in Vettel first instead to get a 1-2, but if you acknowledge that you are screwing Leclerc's priority choice by doing this, you can just as easily put Leclerc back ahead of Vettel. If Vettel knows that his options are being pit first and giving position back to Leclerc of being pit second and being 4th or worse... is that hard to sell to him, surely not?

Mercedes pit Bottas first, then protected Ham's lead over him (because it was easy to do so) because that is only fair. They could have pit Hamilton (who was asking for the undercut so clearly wanted to pit first) and Bottas could easily have lost out.

As for iotar saying it's 9-0, apparently he forgets that hamilton was pit immediately after Vettel to protect/block Vettel from getting ahead of Hamilton or closing on the pit window of Bottas who was leading. Exactly the same way merc often pit Bottas straight away and ahead of Hamilton in the lead in the same situation.

The one time I can remember Merc prioritising Hamilton over Bottas when Hamilton wasn't in the lead in the first place was Russia last season when the fight was still quite tight with Ferrari and Ferrari could have improved and won more in the remaining races (much as they won and improved in Singapore). Bottas also wasn't even close to a title fight last season at that point.

As you say, Ferrari pitted Vettel first to avoid a possible 1-4 afterwards. Verstappen had difficulties to defend from Bottas and the Ferrari strategists knew that Max was about to pit, so Vettel was told to pit in the last moment (last turn before pit entry). This way they defended an undercut from Max and at the same time wanted to do an undercut on Hamilton which obvoiusly worked as well. The plan was to pit Leclerc in the next lap and then come out with Leclerc 1 and Vettel 2, but the power of the undercut was underestimated by the team. Vettel gained 3.9 (!) seconds in his outlap and overtook Leclerc by a blink of an eye. He just needed to be about 0.3-04 seconds slower in his outlap or Leclerc 0.3-0.4 seconds faster in his inlap and this would have not happened.
The only thing which Ferrari could have done better was informing Leclerc about Vettel's pit stop. Then maybe he could have been able to drive faster in his inlap.

As for the switch of Leclerc and Vettel, Binotto told that they considered it, but then ditched the idea because they thought that Vettel would have been punished for something he was not to blame for.

[search]

Mercedes pit Bottas first, then protected Ham's lead over him (because it was easy to do so) because that is only fair. They could have pit Hamilton (who was asking for the undercut so clearly wanted to pit first) and Bottas could easily have lost out.

they didn't do it because it was "fair" but because otherwise Hamilton would have dropped behind Albon. So from a team's perspective it made sense, to maximize points. Ferrari maximized points by pitting Vettel 1st.

Both decisions were correct. If anything, you could argue that Hamilton should have let Bottas through again after the stop.

[foxmulder_ms]

Albon only 0,6 s slower (0,4 in front of McL) and Verstappen 0,6 s off pole. Was that supposed to be a RB track? Never mind, in internet lands of fiction MV was a candidate for pole in Spa. Spa...

MERCEDES TEAM ORDERS UPDATE:
9-0 HAMILTON VS TEAM MATES.

Ham deserves it 100%. Merc applies these orders when they are necessary.Not in the 1st race of the season unlike some other red teams.

[DChemTech]

Albon only 0,6 s slower (0,4 in front of McL) and Verstappen 0,6 s off pole. Was that supposed to be a RB track? Never mind, in internet lands of fiction MV was a candidate for pole in Spa. Spa...

MERCEDES TEAM ORDERS UPDATE:
9-0 HAMILTON VS TEAM MATES.

Ham deserves it 100%. Merc applies these orders when they are necessary.Not in the 1st race of the season unlike some other red teams.

Why does he deserve it? Strategically it made sense, as Hamilton had a higher chance of getting 3th than bottas, but I fail to see how Hamilton deserved it. Quite the contrary; you could argue staying out too long was a mistake of which he deserved the consequences rather than bottas. Coming from a needs perspective, Hamilton is so far ahead that he absolutely didn't need it to cement his place in the rankings, while bottas certainly might. (note: arguing this case only, not past orders)

[NathanOlder]

All Ferrari needed to do was switch them over at the end when they were clear of Max. That way the right guy wins, the result is safe 1-2 for Ferrari, everyone gets what they deserve. Charles wins, and he helped Vettel get 2nd .

[NathanOlder]

Albon only 0,6 s slower (0,4 in front of McL) and Verstappen 0,6 s off pole. Was that supposed to be a RB track? Never mind, in internet lands of fiction MV was a candidate for pole in Spa. Spa...

MERCEDES TEAM ORDERS UPDATE:
9-0 HAMILTON VS TEAM MATES.

Ham deserves it 100%. Merc applies these orders when they are necessary.Not in the 1st race of the season unlike some other red teams.

Why does he deserve it? Strategically it made sense, as Hamilton had a higher chance of getting 3th than bottas, but I fail to see how Hamilton deserved it. Quite the contrary; you could argue staying out too long was a mistake of which he deserved the consequences rather than bottas. Coming from a needs perspective, Hamilton is so far ahead that he absolutely didn't need it to cement his place in the rankings, while bottas certainly might. (note: arguing this case only, not past orders)

Hamilton was left out by the team, they call it. They see what times everyone else is doing. Hamilton qualifies the best part of a second ahead of Bottas, is running 2nd to Bottas' 5th. Thats what deserved it yesterday. Only a Ham Hater cant see that

[DChemTech]

Ham deserves it 100%. Merc applies these orders when they are necessary.Not in the 1st race of the season unlike some other red teams.

Why does he deserve it? Strategically it made sense, as Hamilton had a higher chance of getting 3th than bottas, but I fail to see how Hamilton deserved it. Quite the contrary; you could argue staying out too long was a mistake of which he deserved the consequences rather than bottas. Coming from a needs perspective, Hamilton is so far ahead that he absolutely didn't need it to cement his place in the rankings, while bottas certainly might. (note: arguing this case only, not past orders)

Hamilton was left out by the team, they call it. They see what times everyone else is doing. Hamilton qualifies the best part of a second ahead of Bottas, is running 2nd to Bottas' 5th. Thats what deserved it yesterday. Only a Ham Hater cant see that

Call me a ham-hater whatever you like, you are jumping to conclusions. Such an unnecessary accusation doesn't make the forum any nicer by the way.

Anyhow, it's not like drivers do not have any say in such decisions, but yes, they do naturally rely on the teams calculations most of the time. And sometimes that turns out bad, in this case for Hamilton, in other cases for bottas. I still don't agree that this somehow makes Hamilton more deserving of the position. Nor would I have found bottas deserving had the situation been reversed.

[izzy]

All Ferrari needed to do was switch them over at the end when they were clear of Max. That way the right guy wins, the result is safe 1-2 for Ferrari, everyone gets what they deserve. Charles wins, and he helped Vettel get 2nd .

Yes that's the final piece of the puzzle isn't it. It was policy. Neither driver is in with a chance of the wdc, and Seb really needed that boost whereas Charles is flying high already.

Charles had to make a polite fuss to deter them a bit next time, but secretly he'll be thinking his teammate needed protecting hehe.

[ferkan]

I have a feeling Leclerc will look to do same thing Ham did to Alonso in 2007 after Monaco call. He will look to destroy him (which is natural, as Seb would LOVE to put down new young prodigy).

[santos]

All Ferrari needed to do was switch them over at the end when they were clear of Max. That way the right guy wins, the result is safe 1-2 for Ferrari, everyone gets what they deserve. Charles wins, and he helped Vettel get 2nd .

It was the right guy to win yesterday. He even lost more time in the pits… Nobody knew that the undercut was so powerfull. Even the super almighty team Mercedes, got the strategy wrong.

[Just_a_fan]

As for iotar saying it's 9-0, apparently he forgets

He's a Ham-hater, ignore him it's the best way.

[Just_a_fan]

As for the switch of Leclerc and Vettel, Binotto told that they considered it, but then ditched the idea because they thought that Vettel would have been punished for something he was not to blame for.

That's a fair argument except it ignores the fact that Leclerc was punished for something he was not to blame for. He drove the team's strategy and was punished by a win and points loss. If they switched them, Vettel would still have been better off than he was before the pit stop.

The reality is that Ferrari are still favouring Vettel. Maybe Vettel has a contract that requires it. That's about the only reason for doing it when the other driver is doing the job better.

[Just_a_fan]

Anyhow, it's not like drivers do not have any say in such decisions, but yes, they do naturally rely on the teams calculations most of the time.

Hamilton asked for the undercut but the team said no and then left him out even longer. Team error, not driver error.

[DChemTech]

Anyhow, it's not like drivers do not have any say in such decisions, but yes, they do naturally rely on the teams calculations most of the time.

Hamilton asked for the undercut but the team said no and then left him out even longer. Team error, not driver error.

Yes, I know. (well, we heard Hamiltons message but not the respons IIRC). Still, that does not mean the driver cannot overrule the team decision - but as I mentioned before, since the team knows more than the driver, they generally wouldn't. Anyhow, yes, it still is a team error and not a driver error. And sometimes these team decisions go your way, sometimes they don't. That doesn't mean that every time the team makes an error favoring one driver, the situation must be repaired because the affected driver is deserving of that - which is the point I wanted to make. It's part of the sport - you win some, you lose some.
Edit: the point that Hamilton did ask for an undercut and turned out to be right in hindsight does make it somewhat different than an regular team error case, and does give a basis for one deserving the error to be repaired. In that light my comments above are more for team errors in cases where the drivers own suggestions were not overruled.

[santos]

As for the switch of Leclerc and Vettel, Binotto told that they considered it, but then ditched the idea because they thought that Vettel would have been punished for something he was not to blame for.

That's a fair argument except it ignores the fact that Leclerc was punished for something he was not to blame for. He drove the team's strategy and was punished by a win and points loss. If they switched them, Vettel would still have been better off than he was before the pit stop.

The reality is that Ferrari are still favouring Vettel. Maybe Vettel has a contract that requires it. That's about the only reason for doing it when the other driver is doing the job better.

That's a bit unfair to say. We know now, what was the outcome of the strategy, but in the race, they saw an oportunity for Vettel getting ahead of Hamilton. But the undercut revelead more powerfull than what every team think it could be. Even Mercedes that rarely makes mistakes with strategy didn't get it right.
Vettel even lost time with his pit stop. I would rather see Leclerc win, but switching the drivers, would be even more unfair and artificial.