Horner: 'Mercedes engine harvesting energy hampered Hamilton's progress in sprint'
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton probably isn't a fan of sprint races. At Silverstone, the British driver lost pole position to Max Verstappen, and in Italy he had a poor start and dropped down to P5. He will start from fourth as a result of Valtteri Bottas' engine penalty.
Unable to overtake McLaren
Hamilton was unable to recover during the 18 lap sprint. The McLaren drivers ran with soft tyres, whilst the seven-time World Champion ran on the mediums. But Red Bull boss Christian Horner identifies another area which could've prevented Hamilton from making gains towards the front.
“When they're running sustainably, they're harvesting [regaining energy in to the battery rather than using it] a lot," Horner told Sky Sports.
“It’s what we call clipping, so the end of the straights you see the rear light flashing, and that just kills your straightline speed. So you can see Lewis getting within half a second [of Norris], which is usually an overtake, but just running out of momentum at the end of the straight. It’s good news if we can stay ahead tomorrow. It means that they won't be able to attack too hard at the end of the straights, because they've got this harvesting going on.”