Christian Horner: Mercedes caught in “no man’s land” with Lewis Hamilton strategy call in United States GP
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Mercedes were caught in “no man’s land” when they pit Lewis Hamilton too late in the first stint of the United States Grand Prix.
Mercedes’ decision to stop Hamilton several laps later than Max Verstappen ultimately proved costly in the fight for the victory.
Mercedes were weighing up a possible one-stop strategy when Red Bull and McLaren committed to a two-stop with their early stop.
When Hamilton eventually pitted, he rejoined over six seconds behind Verstappen - a gap he struggled to make up.
Reflecting on the various strategies in play, Horner gave his view on Mercedes’ indecision between the two strategy choices.
"Before the race all our simulations were telling us two stop was the fastest race for us, so that's what we committed to,” Horner said. “The debate was do we run the hard [tyre] in the middle stint or the medium.
“We knew going up against Lando that they'd committed to the two hards, so we knew going medium-medium it was crucial for Max to make use of that to get the pass done and get the track position and then run our fastest race to the end of the race.
“I think Mercedes found themselves in no man's land today. They sort of attempted a one [stop], aborted, and then took the better tyre, the medium tyre, for the final stint.
“But thankfully we had just enough to hold them off.”
Verstappen’s race was also compromised by a recurring brake issue.
“He was managing a brake issue throughout the race,” Horner added.
“You could hear, he wasn't happy about the brakes, and when you've got that issue you are building in a bit of a margin.
“So I think all his focus was on that and he knew very well what the gap was and he was managing that.”
