AMuS: 'Tyre problems and inexperienced pit crew caused problems at Mercedes'

Although Mercedes' victory on paper seemed an easy 1-2, this was not at all the case in Imola . Lewis Hamilton was dominant in the final phase, but for a long time, they were still under pressure from Max Verstappen. The damage that Valtteri Bottas suffered also caused a lot of difficulties for the German team.

That damage meant that Mercedes could not play a tactical game to defeat Verstappen. The Dutchman was faster than Bottas with damage and if Bottas had gone for the undercut, the Dutchman would have gone past Bottas. "With the undercut, Verstappen was able to catch up with one second per round. If Valtteri had stayed on the track, he would have lost his spot of eel Verstappen within a few laps," Mercedes' strategic team explains on Auto, Motor und Sport .

Pit crew changes

Not only did the damage on Bottas' car cause headaches on Mercedes' pit wall, but the coronavirus and the infections within the crew also meant that Mercedes had to charge much more. Ten places that were normally filled by the regular crew around the pit stops now had to be replaced because of the coronavirus infections within Mercedes. "That is why we need a little more buffer at our pit stops."

There were even more tensions for Mercedes during the race, as Auto Motor und Sport explained. Vibrations on Lewis Hamilton's tyres caused the team to consider an extra pit stop. Mercedes have a computer model that calculates how much vibration there is on the car and for how long that is safe. If the tire shows too much vibration, they stop the driver for new tyres, even if they lose the race as a result.

Preventing tire drama

So after the tyre drama at Silverstone, in which Bottas lost a huge number of points, Mercedes decided to avoid a similar scenario in the future. During the safety car, Hamilton and Bottas both went in for new tires, which they had to, according to Mercedes. "Lewis 'rear tyres wouldn't have survived the restart," said Mercedes' strategy team.