Even though Lewis Hamilton had a new Mercedes power unit on the back of his car, the British driver still turned it down on his way to victory in the 2018 Formula 1 French Grand Prix weekend.
The German manufacturer had to delay its new upgraded engine to Paul Ricard instead of bringing it during the Canadian Grand Prix. The team suffered on the seven-races old unit in the grand prix as they felt slightly behind Ferrari and Red Bull Racing in performance.
However, they brought the updated package in France for themselves and also their customer teams Force India and Williams – and where immediately back on pace to take a 1-2 in qualifying and had every chance to repeat it in the race.
The Lap 1 collision between Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas meant the other Mercedes could only finish seventh, while Hamilton took the win by a solid 7.090s margin over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Since he was in a comfortable lead and recalling how their Canadian GP’s performance because of the older engine, Hamilton revealed that it is better off to do as much so that in case of a delay again, they will have enough legs to do better in the particular race.
“I saved it [the engine] as much as I could,” said Hamilton after the grand prix. “Every moment where I felt like I could turn the engine down and save, I saved. If I can get down at the end of the straight and lift and save a bit of load – a full load, a full throttle load, I did it.
“I think it was very-very healthy, in general I am very gentle with all my engines. I want it to go the distance and not have the trouble I had in last race.” Hamilton’s win helped him to retake the lead and increase it by 14 points to Vettel as they head into Austria.
Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff stressed that the season will continue to be a tooth and nail fight between the three outfits as marginal gains between the three will decide the winners in the races.
“The results of the last races show that it’s all about the details – this season more than ever. Marginal gains defined the outcome of the race in both Montreal and Le Castellet and you need to get every detail right in order to win,” he said.
“On paper, we should be in a good position for Austria; we had the fastest car in France and we have shown good performances in Spielberg in the past. But you cannot take anything for granted this season, the performance of the top-three teams is too closely matched.
“This makes the 2018 season a great spectacle for the fans and an exciting challenge for the teams. We need to keep pushing hard and keep bringing performance to the track.” Mercedes, for now has a 23 points lead in the constructors’ standings over Ferrari.
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