Mercedes thinks it would have been difficult for Lewis Hamilton to beat Max Verstappen anyway because of the damage to the floor. However, how the seven-time world champion managed to redeem himself after his touché with the wall is commendable, according to Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin.
"For Lewis it was very much a race of two halves. The early part was defined by the damage to the front wing after the contact with Max - that improved slightly when the footplate came away completely but we still had a chunk of load and balance missing", Shovlin said in Mercedes' afterthought.
Warming up Mercedes tyres
It came as a bit of a surprise to the German team that Hamilton was able to overtake Verstappen at the end of the first shift. An overcut was attempted, although unfortunately it failed. "The transition to dry was okay, warm-up was a challenge and I think we look worse than our competitors in this regard but as we didn't have time to. change the wing it was always going to be a struggle to put Max under pressure."
Eventually Hamilton threw in his own windows by spinning between some stragglers. The code red that followed shortly afterwards was a stroke of luck for Hamilton. "The suspended race allowed us the chance to repair the car and in the final stint we saw what it was capable of. It was a great recovery by Lewis and an impressive fastest lap," Shovlin concluded.