Hamilton claims 'wrong' Mercedes call cost him a podium in Zandvoort

The British driver claimed his team had the pace, but the strategy condemned them

Luis Raya

Tuesday 29 August 2023 09:57

Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in the Dutch Grand Prix, but the British driver believes that if it weren't for a bad team call, he could have fought for the podium.

The Mercedes driver started from 13th position after failing to enter Q3 on Saturday, leaving him to cut through the pack on a chaotic Sunday to have any hope of a good points-scoring finish. Because of this, the British driver attempted a different strategy and was the only one to start on medium tyres.

However, the early appearance of rain meant that all drivers had to pit for intermediates as early as lap two. Mercedes chose to keep Hamilton out a bit longer, and he didn't pit until lap four, losing a lot of time and rejoining at the back of the grid.

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"When that rain then came out, as a team we made the wrong decision. Ultimately, it was the team’s call and we paid the price for that," he said after the race to Sky Sports F1.

"Then we came out last and I think after that, just chasing, kept my head down. I think it was a really good of just when you fall or stumble, to get back up [and] keep trying.

"Every time I had to pit, I came out behind and just kept chasing and chasing. I was really happy with, I got past the McLaren for example on this track, [which] is not so easy to do. I was quicker than Sainz at the end, just needed the DRS [to overtake him]."

Hamilton believes he could have fought for the podium

The race in Zandvoort was marked by continuous weather changes

Six laps after his first pit stop, Hamilton pitted again on lap 10 for dry tyres, rejoining in 16th position, again well out of the points.

Hamilton had climbed to the sixth position when the red flag was shown on lap 65, and after the restart, he consistently challenged Sainz's fifth position, staying close to the Spaniard but ultimately unable to overtake him.

Had it not been for the poor initial decision, Hamilton claimed he had the pace to contend for the podium.

“I think today, I think I had the pace to in the conditions if we had made the right call, I had the pace to be challenging the top two. Particularly when we got to the dry and pace wise I think we weren’t terribly far off. Not saying that we’d beat them, but I think we would’ve been [close]," he concluded.