Quote:
Originally Posted by M2CS
MB didn't let their guard down, they would've won the race had it been handled the way same safety cars were handled in the past. They had no psychic ability to know that Masi was going to alter rules in RB's favor (neither did RB for that matter). If Masi didn't give a damn about rules and wanted a final lap showdown, he should've just red flagged the race and let HAM and MAX doing a standing start both on soft tires.
|
Can't agree. They did have the chance to pit HAM and put him on equal tires.
They gambled on the race not restarting, and they were wrong. Or, perhaps they thought HAM had enough pace left to manage over one lap even if it did restart. They opted to maintain track position.
Betting on a field of lapped cars between HAM and VER could not have been an element of their calculation. You'd never assume that. What you heard from Toto at the end was him trying to desperately cling to that final advantage.
I'm not trying to be overly harsh on Merc. Obviously, it wasn't a no brainer either way. But in the end HAM needed to be on softs and in the fight.
You saw how competitive he was during the final lap on nearly expired hards. I don't think VER would have had an answer.