Hamilton disrupted Red Bull's plan: 'We saw him pushing'.
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The strategy of the teams was the flavour of the Qatar Grand Prix. The choice between the one-stopper and two-stopper could make or break the race. Christian Horner admits that Lewis Hamilton made Red Bull's initial plan change.
Hamilton sabotages Red Bull
Whereas most drivers had to make the trade-off of stopping once or twice, Max Verstappen actually went through the pit lane three times. In his fight for the point for the fastest lap, he took the sure thing. The three stops are in stark contrast to the planned one-stop.
Red Bull team principal Horner tells Motorsport-total.com: "We started the race with the intention of only stopping once. But we saw very quickly that Lewis was pushing at the front, so we pushed harder."
Mercedes only faster in the first stint
Hamilton managed to sabotage Red Bull's plan. From the planned one-stop, Red Bull ended up with three as the tyres started to wear down considerably. The team went for the fastest lap of the race when it became clear the Brit was unstoppable. According to Horner, it did provide a nice insight into the actual pace differences between the two rival teams.
"I think Lewis had better speed in the first stint, but in the other two stints, we were able to keep up with him. The fact that Max was able to set the fastest lap even before he used the red tyre was encouraging; very encouraging."