Hamilton: Deciding F1 strategy in-car "feels like you're gambling" – Autosport

After slipping back to eighth on the opening lap, Hamilton managed to recover to sixth in the opening stint, and was closing on Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas for net P5 when the safety car came out with 17 laps remaining.
The safety car played into the hands of Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate, George Russell, who had stayed out long on the hard compound tyre.
It meant Russell could come back out directly behind Bottas and Hamilton with fresh medium tyres.
Under the safety car, Hamilton was asked by race engineer Pete Bonnington about his tyre life.
Although both Bonnington and Mercedes strategy director James Vowles advised Hamilton to stay out, they said they would “leave it to your decision”.
“You tell me man, Don’t leave it to me,” Hamilton replied.
The team opted to keep Hamilton out on his set of old hards, leaving him vulnerable to Russell behind.
Asked about the debate over pitting under the safety car, Hamilton said: “When you’re out there, you don’t have all the information.
“You don’t know where everyone is and where you don’t have the picture that they have on the screen.
“So when you’re given the responsibility to make a decision, it feels like you’re gambling and I don’t like that.
“I was like, you guys make the decision. But either way, we were just unfortunate.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Hamilton ultimately stayed out and finished the race sixth, losing a position to Russell but picking up a place after Bottas ran wide at Turn 17 in the closing laps.
Hamilton said he was “waiting” for a change in fortune, having also lost out as a result of the safety car in Australia and the Virtual Safety Car in Saudi Arabia.
“Until then, I’ll keep working as hard as I can, and working with the team,” Hamilton said. “We got some good points as a team today.”
Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff felt Hamilton was “between a rock and a hard place” when the safety car came out, acknowledging it “wasn’t favourable for him and favourable for George”.
“George had a window, no one behind him, he was able to switch to a practically new medium,” Wolff explained.
“Lewis had to decide, do I keep the position on a hard or do I go on a soft, which would have also been tricky. It was probably a 50-50 decision, and in the end, it didn’t work out for him.
“It’s not the first time this season that he’s been unlucky with the safety car.”
10 things we learned from the 2022 Miami Grand Prix
Rahal would “love” to give F1 star Vettel an IndyCar test
The F1 implications of Ferrari’s failed Red Bull Monaco F1 protest
Ferrari wants “clear explanation” for Monaco GP strategy errors
The inevitable consequence of the Liberty F1 popularity boom
Wolff: Hamilton only missing luck to match Russell in F1 2022
The 10 best Formula 1 drivers ever: Hamilton, Schumacher & more
The small details where Hamilton can make the difference for Mercedes
Wolff: F1 budget cap allowance would help adjust staff salaries
Hamilton: Bad luck “bound to stop at some stage” after Monaco red flag
What Russell’s current Mercedes form ahead of Hamilton means for his F1 future
Gasly “a bit sad” new F1 rules haven’t cut gap to top teams
How a cost cap breach could decide the F1 world championship
How classic Alonso strengths are helping him in a critical F1 phase 
Mercedes F1 potential is “dangerous”, admits Red Bull’s Marko
How classic Alonso strengths are helping him in a critical F1 phase 
Fernando Alonso has been involved in F1 for over two decades and shows no signs of slowing down. BEN EDWARDS digs into the work ethic and team-building ability which underpins Alonso’s longevity
The overlooked flaws of the 2022 F1 cars that Baku will expose
OPINION: Though Formula 1’s return to ground-effect may have boosted overtaking, the other clear by-product of the technical overhaul has been weight gain. With wet conditions in Monaco stealing the show, the greatest shortcomings of the new rules will be on clear display at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Is F1 barking up the wrong tree with its anti-jewellery stance?
In a new regular column, MAURICE HAMILTON draws on his decades of grand prix experience to give an alternative take on the news. First up, he ponders the ongoing brouhaha over jewellery…
The contrasting temperaments that could prove key in F1 2022’s title fight
For the first time in a decade, Red Bull and Ferrari are properly fighting it out for the world championship – and, as STUART CODLING reveals, the duelling drivers are children of the 1990s who are picking up a similarly old grudge match from where they left off…
How star-studded Miami Grand Prix reveals F1’s direction of travel
Home to many a cinematic car chase, Miami has made a visually dramatic impact on the F1 calendar too – as one wag put it, they paved a parking lot and put up a paradise. GP Racing’s STUART CODLING was on the scene to sample a world of celebrities, fake marinas and imperilled six-foot iguanas
Porpoising: A lesson from history and one of F1’s greatest teams
Although the 2022 Formula 1 season is destined to be forever linked to the word ‘porpoising’, this is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it’s a problem that was identified at the start of the first ground-effects era and has returned with a change in the rules that once more allow downforce-generating floors
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
His day of days in Formula 1 came at Indianapolis in 2005, a day grand prix racing strives to forget. But Patrick Friesacher, the long-serving Red Bull lieutenant, remains active today driving a two-seater that provides ordinary people with a glimpse of an F1 car’s savage potential, including this writer…
The mistakes putting Ferrari’s bid to end its F1 title drought in jeopardy
OPINION: After taking an early lead in the 2022 Formula 1 title race, Ferrari and Charles Leclerc have together made a series of high-profile mistakes to give Red Bull an advantage after the opening seven races. Here’s why Ferrari cannot afford to make any more errors this season

source