Reviewing the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes head of race strategy Rosie Wait has explained two areas of concern affecting Lewis Hamilton as the threat of a DNF loomed
Mercedes will address brake reliability concerns on their 2024 car after Lewis Hamilton ran the risk of failing to finish the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
For the seven-time world champion, the season did not end in particularly spectacular fashion. Other than his DNF in Qatar and disqualification at the United States Grand Prix two weeks later, ninth place was his worst finish of the year.
But he had to grit his teeth through two threats that could have ended his evening even worse in order to earn those two points. In a team-released debrief video, Rosie Wait, Mercedes’ head of race strategy, affirmed this.
His damaged front wing presented the first threat, its left endplate flapping in the wind following impact with Pierre Gasly. Although Wait acknowledges that Mercedes would have been compelled to change it if it had become dangerous, the company chose not to.
She said, “These things often look worse on television than they are in reality and in the data, and it will have undoubtedly affected Lewis’ car’s balance and performance slightly.” “However, we never gave it any thought as to whether to continue with it or pay for a pit stop to install a new front wing.
The biggest concern we had was structural, so if it had deteriorated and began to raise structural issues, that could have been a safety hazard and might have required a change. Fortunately, it didn’t become a problem while we were closely watching it, so he was able to finish the race using the wing as is.”
Hamilton might have finished even lower than ninth if he had changed his front wing in the pits, which would have cost him several crucial seconds. What was even more concerning, according to Wait, was the possibility that he wouldn’t finish the race at all because of brake issues, which he said was a major concern in the closing miles.
“Well, actually if you picked through the data and correct for things like the age of tyres, the track condition, Lewis’ performance was actually pretty similar through stint two and stint three – but the race situation made it look quite different,” the 38-year-old said in an attempt to explain his seemingly slower pace in the third stint.
“During the second stint, Fernando [Alonso] was on older tires and spent the majority of it in the filthy air of [Oscar] Piastri, while Lewis was on new tires and pursuing him. Fernando’s performance appears weaker than it actually is as a result, making Lewis appear stronger.
“For the third stint, the roles were switched. Despite having similar lap times, Lewis’s performance doesn’t seem as impressive because Fernando was in clean air and had slightly newer tires than Lewis, while Lewis was in Fernando’s dirty air with older tires.
“You should also be mindful of Lewis’s handling of brake problems during the race, which raised serious concerns about his dependability. Thus, getting that car to the finish line without having to retire it was our top priority. That will have had varying effects on his performance during the race, and we are definitely working to improve it for the car next year.”
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