Mercedes chief James Allison explained the reasoning behind starting Lewis Hamilton on soft tires which resulted in a poor P6 finish.
The Singapore GP is well-known for its physically demanding conditions, especially due to the intense humidity. Mercedes drivers had one of their worst performances of the season at Marina Bay, suffering from heat stroke. They were the most affected by cockpit heat this year, struggling to even walk after the race. This severely impacted Lewis Hamilton’s performance, compounded by poor race strategy.
In a recent podcast, James Allison explained Mercedes’ poor strategy choice, aiming for a faster start, which backfired for Lewis Hamilton. He admitted that starting on soft tires was a major mistake. Allison explained that if they could go back in time, they would choose medium tires instead, just like the other teams, the medium tires proved to be a better choice for the conditions. Therefore, The decision to use softs negatively affected Hamilton’s race which left him feeling worse after the event.
We shouldn’t have started on the softs. That was a mistake, if we could turn back time we would do what those around us did and select the mediums.
Further, Allison clarified why the team went for soft tires. He explained the softs usually help cars get a faster start, providing better grip at the beginning of the race. The team thought this would allow Hamilton to move ahead quickly and potentially overtake one or two cars in the first few laps. However, the plan didn’t work out and the Briton ended the race in P6. The Silver Arrows admitted that the mistake was entirely their fault, with team boss Toto Wolff, personally taking the blame.
The reasoning was that the soft tire very often allows you to get away from the start abruptly and allows you good chance of jumping a place or two in the opening laps of the race.
Mercedes didn’t anticipate to experience difficulties on softs at Singapore GP
James Allison explained that before the race, they didn’t anticipate the problems they ultimately faced with the soft tires. The team believed the softs, being faster, would make their strategy effective, but the result was quite different.
Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)
Lewis Hamilton struggled throughout the race, losing positions and finishing a disappointing sixth. The extreme heat inside the W15 cockpit left him utterly exhausted, to the point where he skipped the media session after the race.
We had no real expectation before the race that we were going to suffer the sorts of difficulties that we then experienced on the soft rubber.
James Allison explained.
The extreme exhaustion from cockpit temperatures reaching up to 40°C left fans concerned about Hamilton’s health. However, Wolff reassured in a post-race interview that Hamilton was fine after some time and would take rest. With six rounds remaining in the season, there is almost a one-month gap before the next race, giving the seven-time world champion ample time to recover fully.
