IT’S STRATEGY BEATING FOR FUMING LEW
FORMULA 1
LEWIS HAMILTON accused Mercedes of a “f*** up” that denied him victory in Japan – before joining his team to toast their sixth straight World Championship double.
The Brit was livid that a questionable strategy decision – one which he blasted on the radio – saw him finish third as team-mate Valtteri Bottas stormed to a surprise triumph at the Japanese Grand Prix.
His anger was shortlived though as he joined his team to celebrate their remarkable sixth successive constructors’ world title and belted out a rendition of Queen’s “We Are The Champions”.
Hamilton will wrap up a sixth world title of his own if he wins in Mexico a week next Sunday and Bottas, whose previous victory came in April, finishes fifth or lower.
But it could have been another story had Mercedes not made an uncharacteristic mistake with their strategy that ultimately cost Hamilton a crucial 10 seconds.
They opted to keep him out for three laps longer than Bottas and then put him on the wrong tyres which forced the Brit to make a second unscheduled stop.
“That was just a f*** up,” said Hamilton complaining to his race engineer Pete Bonnington. “How have I lost that much time? I am basically out of the race.”
Hamilton is now 64 points clear of Bottas with four rounds and 104 points left to play for.
It means his teammate is the only man who can stop him from moving to within one title of Michael Schumacher’s record of seven.
But Hamilton is not expecting to wrap things up in Mexico City for a third year on the trot.
He said: “We still have a battle. I don’t anticipate it will be Mexico where I win the championship.
“We could have been done better. We should have got a one-two but the strategy was not optimum for me.”
For Bottas, it was a morale-boosting victory after a dreadful run and he said: “I’m happy, very happy. I had fun.”
For Ferrari it was another day where they failed to get the best from their car. Vettel, who started on pole, came home second and Charles Leclerc sixth before post-race sanctions dropped him to seventh.