A debate - involving Christian Horner - has proven how difficult it was for Mercedes to select the optimum strategy in the F1 Ja🅰panese Gr♔and Prix.

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lewis Hamilton’s P9 and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:George Russell’s P7 - behind both Ferraris and bot🦩h Red Bulls among others - suggests that Mercedes got their decision wrong in Suzuka.

𒐪After a first-lap red flag, they restarted by switching to hard compounds.

Hamilton called to “change the strategy” on his team radi💧o after battling to find any pace.

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Mercedes changed their drivers onto new hard tꦬyres, t♕hen finished on mediums, but faced scrutiny for their decision-making.

Hamilton afterwards defended hisꩲ team’s strategy but insisted that he preferr😼ed the medium tyre.

“A topsy-turvy weekend,” Sky Sports’ Bernie Collins assessed. “They will be disap𝓡pointed by what has happened in the race.

“Lewis is maybe a little bit skewed by the first stint on the hards. He was overtaken bꦬ𝕴y George on the same tyre, likely on the same fuel load.

“That never feels great from a dr༒iv♛er’s point of view because he was ahead at the red flag.

“Then he says the ‘mediu🃏m at the end felt the best’. Of course it does! It’s the lightest the car has been, the best the track has been…

“All of those things mean that the medium - oꩵr whatever tyre you fit for the final stint - will feel the best."

Collins insisted꧅ that the medium tyre is not always preferable: “Not necessarily. That is a bit subjective.

“If he had a medium at the start that he coul🍸d compare with? Then maybe. But we don’t have that.”

Christian Horner's verdict on Mercedes' strategy call

Butﷺ Damon Hill had a different view𓄧 about Mercedes’ strategy.

Both Red Bꦑull and Ferrari opted for a different tyre strategy ♐to Mercedes.

“I disagreeඣ with Bernie,” Hill said. “As a driver, I would have liked both mediums, please!”

Red Bull team principal 🍰Horner then weighed into the debate with his verdict.

“I w♊as speaking with Checo,” Horner said. “He was saying with hindsight he would have preferred two hard tyres, rather than two mediums, to go into the race.

“It seems like Checo is on Team Bernie.

“I don’t think there was much in it. The track was warmer today, that brou♋ght the cars into a different operating windo✅w.

“The circuit just gets faster and faster☂ throughout the race.”

Red Bull secured a 1-2 finish - t🐻heir third of 2024 - with Max Verstappen leading Sergio Perez home.

Verstappen told Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (who completed the podium) that Red Bull preferred a two-sto𝔉p strategy after the restart.