Was it not also that the double yellows were on the pit straight,so Hamilton gained a little time as the rest of the cars had to slow down ?

 

Gotta love Lauda!

http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/93...cLaren-Ferrari

 

I think Hamilton was there when Sutil was still spinning. And ordinarily you'd expect a car that had spun to get going again; you certainly wouldn't expect a safety car. So I don't think you're right about that. But it's fair to say at the time they probably made the right call; certainly Lewis has moaned at the team before for not reacting to possible safety cars. It's just with hindsight it looks like a mistake that probably cost him second.

 

I controlled Hamilton's private jet today at work.

 

In commentary Brundle said he thought it would be a safety car (once Sutil got out of the car), so there presumably there was a decent probability and therefore worth a gamble.

Hamilton only lost 3 points finishing 3rd instead of second, whereas the chance to finish first and take 7 points from Rosberg made it a sensible choice really.

 

Did he complain that you provided Rosberg's plane a shorter route?

 

Did the pilot moan about you sending him on a longer route or that his aircraft had been fuelled more slowly than Rosberg's plane ?

/edit
...dammit beaten to the same punch line

 

IMO it was not a mistake, even in hindsight. To not have pitted in that circumstance would have been the mistake. My reasoning:

If Lewis had stayed out with the aim of equalise the time on his last two set of tyres (and finishing second) and then the safety car had been deployed he would have been knackered.

He would then have pitted under the safety car (or after it had been recalled) and rejoined and finished further down the field than even 3rd. Because every car that had tyres to last the race would have remained out on track behind the safety car and thereafter to the end of the race and Lewis would have had to pass as many of those as he could in the laps remaining.

All he could possibly lose out by pitting when he did was 3rd v 2nd and even then he had a chance to recover second as we saw.

The possible gain of pitting when he did was a possible first and avoiding the potential minor points placing or worst.

 

That may be true arsie I still think he stopped 3 laps too early however, and I have just been on the BBC site and it would appear Hamilton would agree with me

"We definitely got it wrong with the second stop," he said.

"I don't know why we stopped so early. It made it impossible to hold onto the tyres at the end of the race."


Lewis Hamilton - BBC F1 page.

 

Because you whinged like a little biatch when they didn't stop you last time.