For someone who’s the most successful driver at the US GP, let alone at the Circuit of the Americas, Lewis Hamilton had an outing to forget at this year’s trip to Austin. At least a Sunday to forget, if not the entire weekend. The 2023 US GP was a Sprint weekend, and with a new floor under the W14, Hamilton looked pacey throughout. After qualifying third on the grid for the main race, the seven-time champion emulated the same result in the Shootout. With the W14’s race pace, he ensured a P2 finish in the Sprint. If only he could’ve repeated that feat on Sunday. Oh wait, he did. Didn’t he?

Hamilton crossed the line in P2 behind Max Verstappen on Sunday. Only two seconds behind the three-time champion and undisputed pace-setter of the season. Considering where Mercedes started this season, this should’ve been a great result, but what everyone is upset about is the fact that Mercedes let go of the opportunity of a win.

Mercedes let a win slip through Lewis Hamilton’s fingers

In a way, it’s good that Hamilton didn’t get the win. Imagine thinking you finally won a race after two years, only for it to amount to nothing. How come? The FIA disqualified Hamilton after the race once it found that his plank wear on the car’s floor was higher than the legal limit. Even so, one can’t help but think what could’ve been had the car complied with regulations and Mercedes’ strategy wasn’t shambolic. For a long time, Mercedes has had one of the best development teams on the grid. It’s also had one of the best strategy departments. This year, it’s no longer what it used to be.

McLaren outpaced the Brackley outfit in the development race, and Mercedes has had strategies comparable to Ferrari’s. And a strategy blunder at the US GP cost Hamilton a win. Coming into the race—considering the Sprint performances—Mercedes felt Verstappen would be out of reach. Hamilton & Co. fully expected Verstappen to take the lead and pull away. After his first pit stop, he did take the lead but didn’t pull away. Instead of covering off Verstappen’s undercut attempt by pitting Hamilton, Mercedes kept him out. Had it done what Verstappen did, Hamilton could’ve very well challenged for the win.

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Technical Director James Allison revealed Mercedes’ thinking for leaving Hamilton out. In Mercedes’ post-race debrief, Allison said, “We’re not going to beat Max by just doing the same thing as him because he’s quicker than us. We saw that in the Sprint in the Sprint race. But if we can make the one-stop work, then we could beat him. That was what was going on in our heads. So, we didn’t cover Max off. We left Lewis out there and waited to see what would happen.”

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What happened was Hamilton crossed the line in P2. Had it been for a lap or two more, the Brit would’ve taken his 104th win. If Mercedes’ would’ve pitted him a few laps earlier, he could’ve gotten the chance. But was it all for the best?

The Lewis Hamilton disqualification taught Mercedes a lesson

Since the season started, the W14 has been a bit of an unknown for Mercedes. Because of this, the team usually takes the whole of Friday to understand its car on a particular track. So when they don’t get that entire Friday running—as in the case of Sprint weekends—Mercedes finds it harder to get the right setup. While the setup looked great for qualifying and race pace, it caught Hamilton and Mercedes out on a technicality. 

“In Austin, a track which has a very bumpy surface, and you’re a bit more vulnerable to bumping the car on the ground. When we did our setup, we checked the plank. All looked fine really. But the results of the race speak for themselves. We were illegal at the end of the race and clearly, we should have had our car set a little bit higher up to give ourselves just a little bit margin. It’s of course a mistake, in a Sprint weekend where it’s so much harder to get that stuff right, especially on a bumpy track. But a lesson for us in the future to make sure that we take more margin, especially at a track like that with all of its bumps,” explained Allison.

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What’s your take on how Mercedes handled the weekend in Austin for Lewis Hamilton?