F1 boss surprised at Hamilton: 'Would have hard for Red Bull to respond'

Ross Brawn thinks Mercedes should perhaps have opted for a three-stopper with Lewis Hamilton after he got stuck behind Max Verstappen on hard tyres after the two-stopper. The F1 boss thinks the seven-time world champion would have had good chances, although he also saw a Verstappen who stayed wrong all weekend.

"While Max looked in control, there were times when you thought Lewis was coming back at him. And I thought there was a little window 20 laps from the end when Mercedes might pull a pin on a third stop and bolt on the softs," Brawn said in his column for Formula 1's official website. The top man had given Hamilton a good chance. "That would have really livened the race up. I’m not sure who would have come out on top if that had happened but 20 laps on the softs would have been substantially quicker than Max on his older hards."

Brawn surprised at Mercedes choice

Mercedes increased the pace with Hamilton on the mediums, but another option would have been better, according to Brawn. "I’m surprised they didn’t try it given passing on track was challenging – and they had nothing to lose. It would have been difficult for Red Bull to respond because with the gap to Max below two seconds at that stage, Lewis could have potentially made that up with an out lap on the softs", he says of a possible undercut.

All of the Netherlands expected a victory for Verstappen, but the Limburger was not weighed down by that enormous pressure. "Max is a pretty chilled character, even with the pressure of fighting for a world title. We all saw him at the beginning when he was young and learning. Making mistakes but learning. Now he is the complete item," Brawn said.

Verstappen back in the lead

Verstappen was very focused all weekend and could not be caught at any fault. "He drove a faultless race weekend and I can’t think of anything he did wrong in what for some people would have found very distracting circumstances. To have the level of support he enjoyed at Zandvoort with the tension and the focus on him can be a distraction, but he handled it magnificently. It was a brilliant performance, and he deservedly reclaimed the championship lead."