McLaren reveal that they changed their strategy during Chinese Grand Prix: Formula One news
McLaren have revealed that they changed their approach during the race day of the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, 17th April. The team’s race engineer, Phil Prew said that both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were initially on a two-stop strategy,
but they made a third stop for a tyre change considering the circumstances in the race.
Prew told reporters, “We went into the race truly not knowing what we were going to do. There was an awful lot going on and a great deal was changing through the race, depending on tyre choice and how the different cars used their tyres and how the drivers
used the tyres as well.”
He further explained, “We were working out how the tyres were going to behave, and how long they were going to last, once we'd established that, once the drivers were giving us feedback about tyre performance, that dictated very much our strategy, and that's
when we adopted the three-stop.”
The McLaren race engineer claimed that the tyre degradation was more than expected, which forced the team to rethink their strategy. The decision worked positively for the team, as Hamilton emerged victorious in the race.
On the other hand, Button had a disappointing result in the end. Although he finished the race in fourth place, McLaren could have easily ended the race one-two. The 2009 Formula One champion made a costly mistake in the pits, which took the momentum away
from him.
Button started the race from second position on the grid, but managed to overtake Red Bull’s driver Sebastian Vettel on the very first lap. His team-mate Hamilton was also quick at the start and both the British drivers were ahead of the reigning champion.
However, things changed when Button parked his car in front of the Red Bull garage by mistake. Vettel took advantage of this error and regained his lost position.
The reigning champion was on a two-stop strategy and was in the lead after making his final stop. However, he was unable to hold onto his position for too long, as Hamilton chased him down to overtake him on the 52nd lap of the race.
The reigning champion’s winning streak of four straight wins was broken and he blamed the team’s approach for that. He claimed that a third stop could have earned him a victory, as he would have been on fresher tyres like his team-mate Mark Webber.
The Australian started the race from 18th on the grid. However, he gained 15 positions in the race, finishing on the podium. The veteran driver was helped by a three-stop strategy, as he was able to storm his way through the order on fresher tyres.
Pirelli’s tyre wear has made the season more interesting and challenging, as the teams have to make decisions during the race day.
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