F1 News
Mercedes admit that two-stopping Hamilton was a “50-50 call” in Japan
- Tom Mason
Mercedes elected to two-stop Championship leader Lewis Hamilton at the Japanese Grand Prix as the Brit finished third on the grid at Suzuka. His teammate Valtteri Bottas also did a two-stop in the race as he secured his third win of the season.
When Hamilton pitted for a second time towards the end of the race, he lost his track position to Bottas and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel who secured a second-place finish.
“Lewis in third was always between a rock and a hard place, " Wolff said.
“When you’re in the lead, you need to protect your position. When you’re third, you can take more risks and more chances.
“What we did is protect the lead with Valtteri and took the pace out of his race, once Sebastian pitted for his second stop.
“It was always clear it would go towards Valtteri, we’re not playing teammates against each other with race strategy.
"But then we can say we could have assured second place.
“Pitting Lewis at the end was a 50-50 call".
Hamilton takes a 64 point lead into Mexico where he could win the drivers' championship.