Hamilton: “You can easily end up nowhere with these tires”

Lewis Hamilton increased his lead at the Spanish GP. With a second consecutive victory won in Barcelona after Baku (Azerbaijan), the driver Mercedes extended its lead to four points over Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) to 17 units, taking advantage of a new poor performance from its German rival who failed in fourth place.

If Mercedes scored a double on the Catalunya circuit, the Ferraris suffered more from tire management which posed a lot of problems for the teams this weekend.

“It’s a little early to say if we’ve turned a page, but I hope we’re entering a new chapter, commented Lewis Hamilton at a press conference. We understand the tires a little better race after race, which is a bit of a challenge for everyone. You can easily find yourself in difficulty during an event and end up nowhere with these tires. »

Like a large part of the paddock, Lewis Hamilton is in favor of a change in the regulations to make overtaking easier.

“The one-stop strategy was very simple to apply here because the tires were very similar, but we have already spoken to Charlie (Whiting, the FIA ​​race director) about it, added the four-time world champion. We discussed options for next year or even later this season to make the races a little more competitive. It just became too difficult to overtake. I know because I had fresher tires than Max (Verstappen, who was in the lead when Lewis Hamilton made his stop before the Dutchman). This phenomenon was still pure on this circuit. I don't remember ever experiencing a situation like that. »

Discover the analysis of the Spanish GP in issue 2165 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.