Phil wrote:Fulcrum wrote:Did he have brand new Soft tyres or brand new Supersoft tyres? If he had new Softs, fair enough, those would have been better.
If he had new Supersofts, would he have had a chance to pass Rosberg? My guess is no.
They gave Hamilton used softs (7 laps old I think) and Nico's were brand new (or at worst 1 lap) super softs.
It's just all rather strange. Hamilton was the defacto leader. He was first and leading. Then Mercedes decided to pit Rosberg early (despite him already being in a good position) - probably in an attempt to get a 1 & 2. Fair enough. This offset both strategies. They kept Hamilton out, as to suggest he was on a 1-stop race. That is how Rosberg ended up with track position. Theoretically, the assumption was that Rosberg would pit towards the end and fall back again. Yet then they pitted both cars again - this time Hamilton first, but only to give him the worse tire. That really makes it seem that the team somehow wanted to give Rosberg an advantage. Technically, at the point Mercedes pitted both cars, Rosbergs was 11 laps older than Hamiltons. So they knew Hamiltons tire would last to the end on good pace. Yet they brought him him as well AND gave him the worse tire.
Then Hamilton, realising this, comes on the radio to question why Rosbegr is on the softer tire.
Seriously, this shunt and collision is very much Mercedes own fault.
You still haven't answered my question. Did Hamilton have any other tyres other than the Softs he ultimately used? If he had other options, I agree that those could/should have been used. If he had nothing else you're complaining about nothing.
Hamilton was on a 1-stop to counter Vettel. Vettel's tyre blew up and Hamilton's strategy was collateral damage as a result.
Pitting Hamilton a second time was probably unnecessary, but with 12-15 laps to go, if Rosberg had pitted and Hamilton stayed out, we could be having this discussion in reverse (Hamilton defending a fast charging Rosberg).
How can you keep talking about the Softs being the inferior tyre when this was patently not the case. Hamilton can question the decision, but as evidenced by the massive degradation on Rosberg's car, and many others, Soft tyres were far superior today. Hamilton is not a tyre expert, nor a strategist.
His team actually gave him the best tyres under the circumstances, and we wouldn't even be talking about the accident if Lewis hadn't locked a brake and his wheel gunner had been marginally quicker.
