Isola praises Hamilton's tyre strategy: 'He managed that brilliantly'

Pirelli boss Mario Isola says tyre strategy was key during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Italian thinks Lewis Hamilton executed his strategy excellently, after he opted for a different strategy than Max Verstappen did.

Hamilton went into the pits twice before his Dutch rival. But despite a long stint at the end of the race, he managed to keep Verstappen behind him. In the end there was less than a second difference on the finish line between the two drivers.

"Tyre strategy was at the forefront of this exciting race, with Hamilton and Mercedes twice stopping earlier than Verstappen and Red Bull", opens Isola on the Pirelli website. "Hamilton had to complete a longer final stint, which he managed brilliantly."

"All three compounds performed strongly throughout the race, with Verstappen also doing a long middle stint on the medium. We saw a number of different strategies, with five of the finishers using all the compounds during the race, and two three-stoppers in the top five as well", said Isola. According to the Italian, the strategies also reflected the tyre sets that each driver could still use in the race.