Lewis Hamiltonlooked like he had found something very encouraging over the opening two days of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
The Mercedes driver secured a front row start for the sprint race in a wet sprint qualifying session and had led the early laps of Saturday morning’s race before being caught by eventually winner Max Verstappen.But then he made some significant changes to his car set-up between the sprint race and grand prix qualifying on Saturday evening. Whatever he changed, it did not seem to pay off in the slightest. While his Mercedes team mate George Russell easily reached Q3, Hamilton was eliminated from Q1 to start down in 18th position.
What followed was a race defined by chronic understeer and trouble finding any kind of sustained grip from his tyres – even though he had the supposed benefit of softs at the start of the race. Here is how the story of Hamilton’s race unfolded over the radio.
Soft tyre struggles
With several sets of new softs available to him and a lowly grid position, it was little shock that Mercedes decided to start the race with Hamilton on the fastest tyre compound. However, Hamilton was baffled by his inability to make seemingly any progress up the order in the early laps.
| Lap: 2/56 HAM: 1’44.135 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So DRS has been enabled. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I’m making no ground with this tyre… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 3/56 HAM: 1’42.906 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Copy, Lewis. So rear surface temps are hot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 5/56 HAM: 1’43.499 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So you’re faster everywhere compared to Tsunoda. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | What position am I? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Lewis, currently P17. Tsunoda out at 0.8 ahead and Magnussen 1.0 behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | These tyres are terrible… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RB driver Yuki Tsunoda was also on softs and had gotten ahead of Hamilton and two others at the start to run ahead of him in 16th once Hamilton passed Zhou Guanyu. But when Mercedes decided to pit Hamilton off of the softs, they were beaten to it by the cars ahead, leaving Hamilton out for an extra lap before finally making his first stop for mediums.
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| Lap: 7/56 HAM: 1’44.056 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Going to close up. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Lewis, you’re target -7. And give us a balance check, when you can. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I got no rear end! But otherwise okay. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 8/56 HAM: 1’43.769 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay Lewis, so we’ll go strat mode ‘9’. Strat mode ‘9’. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay Lewis, box-opposite Tsunoda. Box-opposite Tsunoda. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 9/56 HAM: 1’47.942 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton remains out as Tsunoda pits] So we’re just going to use this tyre now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So we’ve got Ricciardo ahead: 1.8. Magnussen, 1.8 behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | These tyres are dead at the rear | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And we’ll box, box. Box, box. [Hamilton pits] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 10/56 HAM: 1’58.909 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton leaves the pit box] And Lewis, we’ll go strat mode ‘five’. Pushing on out-lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | [About to leave pit lane] That was the worst tyre, man! Jesus… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | So Albon ahead: 1.2. Also new medium tyre. He was doing ‘43.3s on the previous tyre. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hamilton emerged from the pit lane sporting a fresh set of medium tyres, but he was down in 19th place – two seconds behind Alexander Albon who had pitted ahead of him and just under three behind Tsunoda, the car Hamilton had been chasing minutes prior. He was able to get by the Williams relatively quickly, then finally dispatch Tsunoda as the mediums seemed to suit him better.
More difficulties on the mediums
| Lap: 11/56 HAM: 1’41.409 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I’m insanely slow, man. I’ve got nothing out here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton passes Albon into turn nine] So Tsunoda one second ahead – .8 behind: Albon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 12/56 HAM: 1’41.904 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Gap at .8 now. And target: minus point-three. [Correcting] Minus three -target minus three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 13/56 HAM: 1’41.927 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton passes Tsunoda around the outside of turn one] And next car: Ocon – at 2.6. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So gap to Ocon: 2.6. Tsunoda, 1.1 behind. And whilst we’re pulling up to Ocon, let’s think about some lift-and-coast – that’ll help your rear surfaces. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 14/56 HAM: 1’41.720 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | How did we end up going longer than those guys ahead? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, we’re just trying to balance the deg, Lewis. Deg is high. Gap to Ocon is now 2.3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And think about introducing some turn seven management. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Gap to Ocon: 2.2. Last lap was a ‘42.2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Despite clearing the two cars, Hamilton was unable to get within DRS range of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine ahead of him. He soon began to voice his unhappiness with the level of grip he was now getting from his medium tyres.
| Lap: 15/56 HAM: 1’42.314 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I can’t even catch him, mate. The car is so slow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 16/56 HAM: 1’42.531 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Where am I losing? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Looks like turns one, two. And a little bit turn 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 17/56 HAM: 1’42.223 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Ocon a ‘42.4. Main loss, braking: turn 11, so brake a little later. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Ah this year I just have no grip, mate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 18/56 HAM: 1’42.564 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, so gap’s now closed to 1.7. That’s good improvement at turn 11. Just a little bit now: braking, turn 14. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 19/56 HAM: 1’42.854 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Ocon, a ‘42.5. We’re losing two tenths, braking turn 11 and braking turn 14. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I’ve got no grip, mate! So I don’t know what’s wrong. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, looks like rear tyre temps, they’re just through the roof. So lift-and-coast will help. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 20/56 HAM: 1’43.115 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Tyres are going off. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Bottas pulls off track] Yellow, yellow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | These tyres are dropping off. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So you are in the Safety Car window. Safety Car window. We still have that yellow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Just as Hamilton began to report even more concerns about his tyres, Valtteri Bottas pulled his Sauber off the track just in front of him on the approach to turn 11. Mercedes agreed to pull him into the pits under the resulting Virtual Safety Car for hard tyres.
When Hamilton and Pierre Gasly arrived at the Safety Car line at pit exit together, there was brief confusion over who got there first, and therefore should be ahead in the queue. Mercedes made sure their driver was in the correct place, something Williams failed to do when Logan Sargeant was involved in a similar situation, leading to a costly penalty.
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Taking suggestions under Safety Car
| Lap: 21/56 HAM: 2’02.779 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | …dropping off. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [The Virtual Safety Car is deployed] So VSC. VSC. Keep the delta positive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Something’s wrong, mate. The tyres are dead, already. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yep, copy Lewis. We’ve certainly given them a hard time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I’m about to lose a place to the car behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, let us know what you want on flap if we do come in. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay Lewis, so we’ll box, box. Let us know on flap. [Hamilton pits] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 22/56 HAM: 2’29.397 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [As Hamilton leaves pits] So you’re going to have Gasly and Magnussen with you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton emerges ahead of Gasly] So you were ahead. And we’ll go strat mode ‘one’. So, Lewis, we’ll need to bring these tyres in nice and steady when this gets going again. So it’s going to be management turns seven and eight and the lift-and-coast does look efficient. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | [Hamilton is overtaken by Gasly under VSC at turn seven] I’ve just been overtaken. He just overtook me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | We believe you should have the position. Will clarify. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Either way, he’s just overtaken me on the outside. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Gasly slows on the exit of turn ten to allow Hamilton to re-pass] So according to our systems, you crossed the Safety Car 2 line first, so it should be your position. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Virtual Safety Car was upgraded to a full Safety Car soon afterwards. As the race had effectively paused, driver and engineer took advantage of the lull to workshop ways to address the car’s understeering problems.
| Lap: 23/56 HAM: 2’13.536 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Lewis, it looks like we’ve got a brake split. So do what you can there. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Safety Car, Safety Car. So we’ll just stay on that delta. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | The car’s just sliding around everywhere… it’s just like something’s broken. It’s probably just this balance. It’s really bad. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, copy. Through this Safety Car we may get a lot more stopping now, so make sure we’re tight on that delta. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Is this bad for us? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Err, let’s have a look, see who’s coming in. So stay tight on that delta. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 24/56 HAM: 2’13.117 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So just keep your eye on the exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Like, is there any way I can get this car turned in a low speed? It won’t turn. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So you still have more scope on diff[erential] entry. And then if we could just keep the rears cool, then we’ll be able to use a bit more. And think about pushing B-bal [brake balance] forwards and taking the B-mig [brake migration] off. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | What position am I now? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Currently P14. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Are we now in a similar place to the others? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, so similar position to the two cars ahead [Hulkenberg and Ocon]. And then Sargeant in the pit lane now, so that’s another spot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 25/56 HAM: 1’54.977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So we still have that brake split, so let’s see if we can get that cleared. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So wear on the previous set, it didn’t look too bad. So it’s all dominated by surface temps. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 26/56 HAM: 2’27.219 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I don’t know how to stop it with this balance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Safety Car’s going to be in this lap. So yeah, Lewis, if you do the management in seven and eight, that will buy us a bit at nine and ten, and it’ll just help keep the surface temps down. Also lift-and-coast is efficient, as said before. And can we have HPP-3 position ‘two’. And, Lewis, it will be strat mode ‘six’. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Safety Car at turn 14. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Safety Car in. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first attempt at a restart at the end of lap 26 saw drama unfolding in front of Hamilton as Lance Stroll crashed into Daniel Ricciardo ahead of him. Hamilton avoided hitting anyone and then passed Ocon through turn eight before the Safety Car was redeployed.
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| Lap: 27/56 HAM: 1’55.435 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton avoids the melee and passes Ocon at the restart] So Safety Car. Safety Car. Keep the delta positive. So we staying out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Car in front [Ricciardo] has some damage on the front wing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, copy. A couple of collisions in that Safety Car restart. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 28/56 HAM: 2’27.598 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | [Ricciardo passes Hulkenberg into turn six] The car ahead just overtook the Haas. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, we’ll have a look at what’s going on there. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay, Lewis, so for info, we’re now up to P11. So it’s P11. And there’s 28 laps to go when we cross the line. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Okay. Where have I been slow? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, so the main point is braking. So it’s turn 11 and turn 14, stand out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Seems like the rears are locking late on, but with the fronts are locking also. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Back under Safety Car, Hamilton and Bonnington did more in-race analysis to work out where he might be losing time and how he might be able to better manage his tyres over the second half of the race. One of Hamilton’s responses to Bonnington was cut off in mid-sentence – potentially a message Formula One Management chose not to broadcast.
| Lap: 29/56 HAM: 2’24.889 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Am I pushing turns one and two too much? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, copy. If we [can] focus on the exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Give me a scan of the lap, please. Just need more info. The car won’t turn, so I’m trying to figure out what to do balance-wise. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, so looking at it, a little bit turn seven management – you can pull that back a bit. Turn eight looks okay. Turn 11 looks okay – we’ll get the braking sorted – just mid-speed, turns 11 and 12. And then 16, yeah, just looks like you can pull the entry back for a better exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton is weaving more aggressively] I see what you’re doing, yeah. Just try and get those front temps up. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 30/56 HAM: 2’21.100 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | What’s the hold up? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | I think just trying to clear up a lot of debris that’s been happening with these contacts. So Lewis, most of the cars ahead in a similar boat in terms of tyre age and tyre compound. We’ve got Alonso who’s on the soft tyre and Ricciardo on a used medium – a 15-lap tyre now. So those two cars will have to stop, most likely others will be going to the end. So it’s 26 laps remaining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 31/56 HAM: 2’22.834 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | How many laps did I manage before? I reckon, like, tyres last 26? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, but we pushed them hard early. We’re not worried about the life. It looks just surface-temp dominated. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | No they’re not- [cut off]. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | It is this lap, Lewis. So yeah, Safety Car is in this lap now. So if we can go strat mode ‘six’. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After the race finally got going again, Hamilton ran for several laps inside DRS range of Hulkenberg’s Haas before passing him on lap 41 at his favourite spot exiting turn eight into turn nine.
Holding on with the hards
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| Lap: 33/56 HAM: 1’40.857 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Hulkenberg: 0.8 ahead. Ocon, 1.2 behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 34/56 HAM: 1’40.835 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Hulkenberg: ‘40.8. George: ‘40.5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And rear surfaces look in a better window now. And Lewis, we’ll go strat mode ’11’, a bit more performance. Strat mode ’11’. Main loss to Hulkenberg, late turn one entry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 35/56 HAM: 1’40.908 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Hulkenberg ‘40.9. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 36/56 HAM: 1’41.289 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Lewis, think about management turns seven and eight for a better nine and ten. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So rear surfaces are looking better. But yeah, doing the management through seven will help. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 37/56 HAM: 1’41.215 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Hulkenberg: same lap time. George: ‘40.5, for reference. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Yeah, it’s pretty slow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 38/56 HAM: 1’40.974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Hulkenberg was a ‘41.1. Car ahead of him, Piastri, ‘41.4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 39/56 HAM: 1’41.113 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So same lap time: Hulkenberg and Piastri. George: ‘40.5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Lewis, can we go HPP-7 position ‘two’. Seven, position ‘two’. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 40/56 HAM: 1’41.500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So Hulkenberg: ‘41.3. Piastri: ‘41.5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 41/56 HAM: 1’40.882 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton passes Hulkenberg for ninth into turn nine] Nice work, Lewis. So that’s Hulkenberg .7 behind, now. Piastri: 1.7 ahead. He does have damage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 42/56 HAM: 1’41.068 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | What position am I? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | P9. So Piastri: ‘41.6. Gap: 1.4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As Hamilton set his sights on the damaged McLaren of Piastri ahead of him, he also had to think about Fernando Alonso, who pitted for fresh tyres with just 13 laps remaining and quickly began to make progress back up the order.
| Lap: 43/56 HAM: 1’41.222 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Piastri: ‘41.0. George: ‘40.8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Where am I down? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So main loss is minimum speed turn two and the entry speed into three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 44/56 HAM: 1’40.915 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Alonso pits for mediums] So Alonso in the pit lane now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | He’s going to catch up. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Good improvement turns two and three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 45/56 HAM: 1’41.098 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, just still looking a bit of a loss at turns two and three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Yeah, the car won’t turn, mate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, understood, Lewis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Lewis, can we have HPP-5, position ’11’. Five, position ’11’. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 46/56 HAM: 1’41.341 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Piastri was a ‘41.3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Just info, Lewis, Alonso does have strong pace on the new mediums. So he’s ‘37.8. Gap’s about six seconds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I’m not sure how long these tyres are going to last, mate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 47/56 HAM: 1’41.376 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | It’s ten laps to go. Ten laps to go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | The same lap time for Piastri. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Alonso passes Hulkenberg] Okay, Lewis, Alonso’s now through. So he’s the car behind. Let’s not lose time racing him. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 48/56 HAM: 1’41.315 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | It’s a 22-lap offset on tyres to Alonso. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Piastri ahead: ‘41.5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hamilton was easily overtaken by Alonso into turn six on lap 49. By now, Hamilton’s hards were 28 laps old and were starting to feel it. But Hamilton was flirting with DRS range of the McLaren and was not giving up hope of passing it before the end of the race.
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| Lap: 50/56 HAM: 1’41.306 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Piastri was a ‘42.1. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 51/56 HAM: 1’41.485 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And the same lap time for Piastri. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 52/56 HAM: 1’41.461 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | It’s five laps remaining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 53/56 HAM: 1’41.521 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Piastri a ‘41.6. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | I can see him ahead, mate. Just leave me to it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 55/56 HAM: 1’41.604 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And we’ve got two laps remaining. So we can go strat mode ‘nine’. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 56/56 HAM: 1’42.084 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So this is the final lap. You have ‘overtake’ available, if you need it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hamilton reached the chequered flag 1.7 seconds behind Piastri, just over 20 seconds behind team mate Russell and almost a full minute behind winner Max Verstappen. He immediately admitted he had regretted making the set-up changes after the sprint race that saw him lose a lot of confidence in the car.
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | [Hamilton takes the chequered flag] Okay Lewis, so that’s P9, mate. A real tough day in the office there, mate. But we’ll go and figure it out. And if we can have strat ’14’ and HPP-1, position ’12’. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Yep! I won’t make that set-up change again, Bono! Yeah, my bad. Yeah. Thank you guys. Good job on the pit stops. Another tough day, but we’ll… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, copy Lewis. Yep. It’s one that we won’t have to bother remembering. And Lewis, yeah, just remember to pick up rubber on the way. There’s plenty out there. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2024 Chinese Grand Prix
- Aston Martin petitions FIA to review Alonso’s penalty for Sainz collision
- “You need to be more on it”: 12 unheard radio exchanges from the Chinese GP
- Ricciardo needs to show “head-turning form” for 2025 chance – Horner
- With fourth format change in as many years, F1 relegated sprint races to a sideshow
- Williams accept ‘harsh but correct’ penalty for Sargeant
Oxnard (@montalvo)
23rd April 2024, 12:40
Perhaps the transcript should be a description of ‘pessimist’ in the dictionary. My lord..
Ainu (@ainu)
23rd April 2024, 12:51
Will Bono move to Ferrari too? (we have some Prozac for him)
elchinero (@elchinero)
24th April 2024, 12:31
GREAT (serious) question! How about the blonde caretaker?
James Bond (@jamesbond)
23rd April 2024, 13:42
I’m insane slow man.
The car’s just sliding around everywhere… it’s just like something’s broken.
These tyres are terrible…
[replay]
CarWars (@maxv)
23rd April 2024, 15:17
Feels like Hamilton is doing a Vettel. Hope all goes well at Ferrari, regrettably that is where champions go to die it seems.
Jack
23rd April 2024, 16:00
At this point he must be thinking how does he get out that Merc and jump ship to sit on the Ferrari pit wall for rest of the year.
And secretly I bet Toto & Co would like that too.
Ever since ‘22 its just been :/
Jockey Ewing
23rd April 2024, 16:30
As it would be ok for Mercedes to sign Sainz, they could arrange a mid season swap afterall. Especially if Ferrari will not be good at managing the Leclerc vs Sainz battle. That could be advantageous for both teams to have more, and presumably good benchmarks of their driver pairings, and go for further lineup changes in the closer future if necessary -emphasis on the opportunity of being able to do it sooner-, instead of chewing of some sour grapes for quite long.
Mayrton
23rd April 2024, 16:36
Hard to judge whether Lewis will be a Vettel or return to his former level. If the Ferrari is good I can see him return to his winning ways (although Leclerc will be a tough cookie).
Lewis seems less gifted (than for instance Max, Alonso or Schumacher) in optimizing a car or adjusting his driving style and drive around problems. Which is kind of odd or against expectations since he does well in the rain which usually points to a more gifted driver.
Will be very interesting to see him at Ferrari. His marketing value alone justifies the offer from Ferrari. If he adds wins and even a title that would be quite special. But based on the last 2 seasons and this season so far there is reason for concern.
Ajaxn
24th April 2024, 15:59
Hmm , interesting call, so Hamilton’s superior sprint qualifer on a ‘new’ track in wet or slippery conditions does not translate as ‘gifted’. Interesting.
We instead have the presumably more gifted driver Max in the faster car being less than stellar in the sprints qualifier China.
I wont mention Hamilton/Verstappen drive in Turkey 2020. New track, slippery conditions which called for seat of your pants adjustments to driving style.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
23rd April 2024, 16:46
The team’s response back to HAM is that the simulations are showing that the Merc is lapping 5 seconds faster per lap than the Red Bull.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
23rd April 2024, 18:35
… that when they are not contradicting their own strategy the next lap.
Mayrton
24th April 2024, 6:57
All those years of their underplaying narrative now makes sense. In their 8 years streak of dominance their models said they were actually behind. And nowadays it is vice versa. So it was Lewis back then and not the car..
Retired (@jeff1s)
23rd April 2024, 17:05
He scored less than 20 points in 5 races, meaning he could score less points than in his rookie season, that is wicked.
Edvaldo
23rd April 2024, 18:24
for the record, he scored more points on his rookie season than in the season he won his first championship, so, what is mind boggling is to see him score less points with this car than in a season with the previous points system.
But there’s a combination of factors to make it happen. This is their less competitive car in 15 seasons, he’s leaving, so they won’t do any big changes to help him improve and he won’t be doing any extra work to improve a car he won’t even be driving next year.
It’s like Alonso in ’09, just waiting for it to be over.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd April 2024, 22:36
True, vettel in 2014 also is an example of a bad season before jumping ship.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd April 2024, 22:37
Oh, and obviously 2020, that was also his last season at ferrari and pretty sure the worst season of his career.
Mayrton
24th April 2024, 6:59
And then there is the testing. He is sacrificing himself for George.
MichaelN
23rd April 2024, 17:06
What is this “be a Vettel” about? Vettel put those much worse Aston Martins in 2nd twice and might have won the Hungarian GP if he had a bit more pace in that machine. Would have made the subsequent, and rather frivolous, DSQ a bit harder to take, but whatever.
Hamilton has always had a penchant for drama. It’s just how he and his engineer talk. Of course he doesn’t really have “no grip”. He had a strong sprint, took a gamble, and lost. It happens. He still got from 18th to 9th and finished less than 20 seconds behind his teammate who was 6th on lap 1. Indeed, the gap between the two Mercedes was just at tenth of second bigger than the one between the two Red Bulls, and Pérez started in P2!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd April 2024, 22:38
Yes, vettel’s nadir was 2020 at ferrari, his aston martin seasons, while I don’t think red bull’s vettel was back, were certainly better.
SM
23rd April 2024, 17:12
Had these been from alonso everyone would be calling him toxic and such
Ainu (@ainu)
23rd April 2024, 21:04
And get a 20-race ban for discrediting the sport
NoelyNoel (@noelynoel)
23rd April 2024, 18:07
I really like these kind of articles. The insight into the work going on both in the cockpit and on the put wall is really informative, and helps me connect with more than just the performance we see on the day. Great stuff!
MadMax (@madmax)
23rd April 2024, 22:01
Great article. Shows all the struggles with a wrong setup. The race was well managed under those circumstances.
GmP (@gmp)
24th April 2024, 4:43
I like this article, really nice insight how driver and engineer interact when there is a struggle to find pace. Would be nice to get a same lengthy transcript from Max from a race like this one, to read how much (or little) coaching communication still goes on in such a situation where everything seems to go fine for the driver, pace wise.
MadLewis (@madlewis)
24th April 2024, 7:19
This will be Hamilton’s worst season ever. Really bizar Ferrari signed him with a mega contract….
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
25th April 2024, 19:10
No, hes going to start beating his teammate soon. Pretty sure. His team have been letting him take too much risk for the benefit of Russell and themselves. Lewis is going to get the clue soon, and will just focus on getting the best out of himself in lieu of next year.
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
24th April 2024, 8:29
The pain of realising being so dominant was mostly credit to the car must hurt. Max will experience the same one day i think
tielemst
24th April 2024, 10:08
I’m pretty sure all drivers know that already. It’s the fans that give them god-like abilities and then are surprised when the car isn’t as good as it was
Edvaldo
24th April 2024, 18:06
After you see so many guys who were nowhere then get the right car and become the hottest property around, you get used to the obviously thing that is the car being the biggest part of the equation.
Newer fans are the ones thinking this sport is like some tv show in which the cars are equal and the driver winning could do it with any machine. And that guys like Sargeant and Magnussen start the season dreaming to win the championship because what’s the point of competing if it’s not for the win?
Ajaxn
24th April 2024, 16:02
Lets forget the details of a DNF engine failure over which he had zero control.