Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he would not have pitted during the last safety car period in the British Grand Prix if he had known that it would ultimately cost him second place in the race.
The seven-time champion saw his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, become the winner while he struggled to keep his podium place. The crisis began when a crash involving Max Verstappen caused the race to be neutralized just minutes from the end, and Hamilton decided to pit for a tire change.
Meanwhile, his rival, George Russell, opted to stay out on track and ultimately managed to overtake Hamilton during the pit stops. “My team asked me to pit and I assumed I would maintain position,” the British driver commented on the decision to stop.
The situation complicated further when competition regulations stipulated that lapped cars must un-lap themselves before resuming the race, which did not happen and caused the competition to finish under the safety car, generating confusion and frustration among drivers.
Hamilton expressed his discontent with the decision to pit, acknowledging that if he had known he would lose position, he would not have done it. This unfortunate strategy will need to be assessed in terms of its impact on his future competition, as the goal remains the championship.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
