SUMMARY
- Lewis Hamilton's disappointment at Mercedes' strategy calls led to a disappointing P9 finish at Suzuka.
- Mercedes' ambitious one-stop strategy backfired after rivals stuck to the safer two-stop plan.
Lewis Hamilton endured a disappointing Japanese Grand Prix, finishing a lowly ninth and expressing his frustration with Mercedes’ strategy calls throughout the race. The seven-time champion, soon to be a Ferrari driver from 2025 onwards, finished behind teammate George Russell, who earned a P7 finish, after a gamble on a one-stop strategy backfired.
An early red flag triggered by a crash owing to a strategy blunder. Mercedes opted for hard tires in an ambitious one-stop attempt, while rivals stuck with the two-stop plan. As the race went ahead, it became evident that Mercedes’ gamble was not paying off and living up to their hopes. Hamilton voiced his displeasure over the radio, demanding a strategy change.
Mercedes’ tire strategy led to a bad finish for Lewis Hamilton at Suzuka
After Daniel Ricciardo’s collision with Alex Albon, the race went ahead. Mercedes eventually switched to a two-stop strategy for both drivers, but the tire disadvantage proved too much to overcome. The British sensation dropped further down the grid, finishing two places worse than his starting position. However, Silver Arrows in turn tried to defend their strategy and what they were expecting to achieve.
Lewis Hamilton is not too happy at the moment as he asks to “change this strategy”.
Mercedes can’t pit him now though or else he will emerge out in traffic.#JapaneseGP #F1 #Formula1 #f1jp pic.twitter.com/8aFF7fEyw2
— MrDeepak (@X_MrDeepak) April 7, 2024
During the race, Hamilton voiced his frustration over the radio and said, “Change the strategy!” A Mercedes spokesperson later discussed the situation with the media where they said, “With our tire allocation, we were able to give ourselves the possibility of looking at either a one or a two stop after the red flag – hence the hard tire restart.”
They further stated, “Ultimately, as the race progressed, the tire degradation showed that the two-stop was going to be the quickest way to the flag. Our second and third stints showed solid pace compared to those around us, including the McLarens and the Ferraris. We knew that Suzuka would not be our strongest track though.”
On the contrary, Hamilton’s future team Ferrari opted for the usual two-stop strategy. This improved Charles Leclerc’s performance as he climbed from the eighth spot to P4.
Hamilton on letting George Russell pass at the Japanese GP
The Japanese Grand Prix saw a surprising turn of events for Silver Arrows. The 39-year-old driver offered to let his teammate Russell overtake him early on. This unusual move came after a chaotic first-lap crash and subsequent red flag. Stuck on the slower tires, both Hamilton and Russell struggled to make progress.
While speaking to the media, Hamilton stated, “I think I picked up a bit of damage at the beginning with Charles, he came around the outside. I had a huge understeer for the first stint. I couldn’t turn the car through any of the corners. That’s why I let George by.”
🎙| Lewis: “I think I picked up a bit of damage in the beginning with Charles, came on the outside. I had huge understeer for the first stint. I couldn’t turn the car in any of the corners. That’s why I let George by.” 🥺❤️🩹#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵🌸pic.twitter.com/DWiQJGLoab
— Hamilton Insights (@LH44_insights) April 7, 2024
After yet another disappointing race in the 2024 season, Lewis Hamilton appeared to be utterly disappointed by the team. When questioned about how the situation could have been improved, Hamilton said, “Nothing, I don’t think. I don’t know what the different strategy would have been, whether it was staying on the medium to start with but we still had two really terrible hard tyres to run through, so a real challenge today.”
The race ended with Hamilton and Russell finishing in seventh and ninth positions, respectively, essentially swapping their starting positions. This underwhelming result left Mercedes with many thoughts regarding the W15 and their strategy as they move forward in the season.