Mercedes explains why they copied Verstappen's strategy

Lewis Hamilton copied Max Verstappen's stopping strategy in Qatar. Because Hamilton was master in his Mercedes there was no need for the team to follow the Dutchman. Mercedes explains why they chose to do so anyway.

Verstappen was already four seconds behind Hamilton when he fell behind the Brit on lap five. The Red Bul Racing driver quickly undid his penalty, but Hamilton was still able to dictate the race.

Verstappen came in the pitlane first of the two title rivals. It was the only way they could make things somewhat difficult for Mercedes. There was no real chance for the undercut, although Hamilton did follow the lap after and did the same on the second stop.

Auto Motor und Sport quotes Mercedes' response, "there was no reason to do anything different. We were happy with the two-stop because it minimized the risk of too much tire wear."

The battle for the point for the fastest lap also played an important role in the race. Mercedes already took this into account in their own strategy. That the safety car eventually made it impossible for Hamilton to parry the fastest lap of Verstappen was bad luck.

The team stressed: "We also wanted to try in case of a safety car to be in the same situation as Max." Verstappen improved his own fastest lap again on the final lap and took the extra point.