Hamilton: Pirelli should've brought thinner tyres to Austrian GP

Lewis Hamilton believes that Pirelli was wrong in their tyre selection for the Austrian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver said that he thought they would have been better off in selecting a thinner tyre tread after multiple drivers suffered from blistering during the race.

After the race, Hamilton spoke to the media and having been forced into a two-stop strategy along with other drivers, he said that Pirelli may have gotten in wrong in Austria.

“They should’ve brought the other tyre here, the same tyres we had in the last race,” 

Asked whether blistering was expected during the grand prix, he answered that he felt that despite getting the strategy wrong, different tyres would have avoided the issue altogether.

“It’s not unusual. When you make the wrong call, that’s what happens. They were supposed to bring the other tyre this weekend.”

“It doesn’t really make a difference to my weekend anyway.”

Hamilton retired from the race on lap 65 with an apparent fuel pressure issue, a costly one as it handed back the championship lead to Sebastian Vettel.

Having fallen behind on strategy after Mercedes made a mistake to not pit him from the lead under the virtual safety car, the Briton was left with it all to do and said afterward that he couldn't do more due to tyre wear.

“I was trying to overtake. And that’s probably the problem with these tyres is you can’t stay in a race.

“I had the pace to put on a race and stay with them and be in the fight for the rest of the race and then the tyres don’t make it. In that circumstance, that’s robbed the fans of seeing more racing. But that is just the way it is.

“These tyres aren’t good enough for us to be able to really race. It’s a shame these tyres aren’t good enough that you can stay in the battle, you have blistering.”