Lewis Hamilton should have been brought into the pits one or two laps before he did attempt to come in. He was two seconds a lap slower, two laps earlier. They tried to be clever keeping him out in case it rained so they could put him on the right tyres. If he had gone out on the right tyres he would have won the race, but if he had come in earlier and they had made the wrong tyre choice, he could have come in again and the extra pit stop would have cost him just 23 seconds and got him out in fourth place.
Hamilton needed just nine points from the last two races to win the Championship, so a 4th and 5th would have done the job, even if Alonso had won both races. When Hamilton went out of the race, Alonso was 2nd or 3rd. Hamilton’s tyres were finished at least two laps before he tried to came into the pits. I think he actually had a puncture on his last lap. Keeping Hamilton out was completely unnecessary.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, you might say, but I was watching the lap and sector times and had worked this out as it was happening live. With all the extra data the teams have, it should have been obvious to McLaren too. Instead, they were going for the glory of getting the Drivers’ Championship a race early. It could cost Hamilton the Championship if there are any problems in the last race.
An excellent drive from Vettel, Button, and Coulthard who also gets in the points.
Now I’ve got that off my chest, I can look forward to karting this afternoon.
CBits Tech Support 