Lewis Hamilton Reveals Wanting to “Do Something Different” to Mercedes’ Strategy for the Eifel GP

Valtteri Bottas snatched pole at the Eifel Grand Prix while Lewis Hamilton was over 0.2 seconds off as he settled with P2. After the qualifying session, Lewis revealed that he wanted to start the race on the Mediums. He even mentioned that he could have gotten himself into Q3 with the yellow-marked tires.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Lewis revealed that the decision on the tires was made by the team. “I could have got through with that tire,” Hamilton said. “I wanted to start on it, just because I always like to do something different. But the team chose for us to be on the same tire.

“We’ll see whether it was the right choice tomorrow. I’m sure it was the right choice. The other one would have been a little harder.”

During Q2, both the Mercedes were sent out to the track on Mediums, but Bottas could manage only a P8. Hence, during their second run, Mercedes opted for Softs in a bid to err on the side of caution.

Starting the race on Mediums could have been a hard job for Lewis. The low temperatures would have restricted the 6-time World Champion from getting enough heat into his tires, effectively disrupting the start to his race.

Lewis Hamilton feels tire management could be a challenge during the race

Lewis believes that managing the front tires could be an enormous task as the lights go out. “The usual effects from the track getting colder is the front tires usually suffer a bit more.

“We generally have a bit more understeer potentially. If there’s safety cars, restarting our tires is going to be a struggle, that’s for sure. We’re all in the same boat.

“I don’t really know how far the tires will go. But when it gets a bit cooler, generally, they can go a bit further, because they work in a slightly different range. I hope this is still exciting tomorrow somehow,” Lewis added.

Nurburgring will probably experience even lower temperatures during the race tomorrow. What’s more, the lack of data from practice sessions will force the drivers to kick their cars into gear with blindfolds on.