© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
At the Mexican Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton masterfully made his medium tyres last for one half of race distance. The Briton explains how he did it.
At the Mexican Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton put in a brilliant performance and managed to finish in P2, behind Max Verstappen.
Mercedes also opted for a bold strategy which required Lewis to make his medium tyres last for half of race distance, while his rivals were all on hard tyres.
After the race, Lewis said he “did some sweet finesse” with the tyres, so a journalist asked him to explain what that actually means.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s really just… it’s about how much you’re sliding the tyre, it’s about the balance that you have,” the Briton said.
“If you have too much wing in, too much front end in the car, then the car is like… Imagine it a bit like a seesaw.
“You want to start a long stint – or a stint – with the car understeering, because as the rears go off, the seesaw tips, and then it goes to oversteer.
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“And when it goes to oversteer, that’s when you’re lost most often. Unless it’s the other way around, where the front tyres are the issue, for example.
“And, just finding that balance is very, very difficult. And it’s… you go out and do your laps of the grid, for example, on a Soft tyre, it requires a different setting for the Medium tyre.
“And I think just really then, just focusing on all of the three sections and figuring out how to… where you can and can’t push.
“And I think today was just a really great balance of lift and coast and tyre saving. And it’s a technique.
“I mean, all the drivers know about it,” Hamilton concluded.
