Hamilton realised team mistake on the grid when discovering tyre choices

Lewis Hamilton has admitted his disappointment in the Mercedes tyre choice for the Mexico Grand Prix. On the grid, Mercedes opted to start on the mediums whereas rivals Red Bull and Ferrari were more aggressive with the soft tyres. 

For Mercedes, it was all about gaining track position going into the first corner. Max Verstappen managed to defend the lead and control the race from then onwards. Mercedes put Hamilton on the hard tyres for the second half of the race, but the seven-time World Champion knows this was the wrong option in hindsight. 

Tyres on the grid

Teams don't find out what tyres their rivals have selected until the tyre blankets are removed before the start of the race. When Hamilton saw what compound the other teams used, his reaction wasn't positive.

"When I was on the medium tyres there wasn't any degradation when they pulled me in. Ultimately, we should have been on the soft, it is something that I asked... questioned," Hamilton told Sky Sports. "I thought maybe one of the two Mercedes should have had a soft to attack."

Throughout the 2022 Formula 1 season, Mercedes have been playing catch up. In Austin, they introduced an upgrade. Hamilton reports the team are happy with this and know where to improve next season. "The upgrade really worked in the last race and we still have improvements to make, which we probably won't make for the rest of the year, but we know where we need to improve for next year," he added. 

Despite all of that, Hamilton reports on Viaplay that he doesn't feel like victory was on the cards if they had started on the softs. "I don't know whether we could've won the race. Maybe we could've been closer on the soft tyre," he said.