Analysing what helped Lewis Hamilton to defend to victory and the strategies followed, with a lap by lap in-depth analysis of the final 5 laps and Lap 51!
THAT WAS A SEASON – OPENER! LAST LAP DRAMA! VARIOUS DIFFERENT STRATEGY CALLS! PITS TO POINT AND POINTS TO LAST! IT WAS A GREAT GREAT RACE AND A DISPLAY OF WHAT THE 2021 SEASON COULD HAVE IN STORE. But the highlight was definitely the Hamilton – Verstappen battle with both Bottas and Perez out of sight for any kind of strategical help or advantage in the race to the respective two teams, and as predicted very correctly by Mercedes’ Bono Huis, the battle started on Lap 51 as Hamilton went a little wide but at the end [SPOILER ALERT] Verstappen failed to win the race. Analysing how the laps unfolded and what led to Hamilton’s majestic win.
Also, a reminder that the race was 1 lap shorter than originally planned and scheduled to be as an extra formation lap was done at the start due to an issues with Perez’s car. Did Red Bull’s electrical issue hamper Verstappen’s chances?
Till now, Hamilton had been taking advantage of lapping cars and Verstappen having to slow down due to battles between cars being lapped but now it was directly Hamilton vs Verstappen! The lapped cars had helped Hamilton a lot by coming in at just the right time for him especially the battle between the lapped cars of Vettel and Ocon, as it slowed down Verstappen quite a bit on that one lap.
LAP 51
Everything was going right for Lewis Hamilton as it seemed it would take till lap 53 for Verstappen to get into DRS range, with Hamilton now using all his energy and regaining the traction that he was complaining about, but he suddenly goes off the track, goes wide going into Turn 10 and that changes the whole scenario as now Verstappen gets into the DRS zone, ready to use it to overtake Hamilton on the main straight. This fault caused Hamilton to lose some time and pressurized him more, now he had to push even more in which there was the possibility of him making more mistakes if he does not get the right traction and what were very old tires.
Now another outlook to what Verstappen should do on the main straight could be that he should get close but not overtake and wait for the second straight , as otherwise Hamilton might have the opportunity to overtake Verstappen using DRS on the second straight, and it would also help him get some momentum into Turn 4 and get out the DRS range for the back straight, so what was Verstappen going to do? It did not seem like he was looking to do this but wanted to overtake as soon as possible.
Onto the main straight, the DRS opens for Verstappen! Now the real battle starts on Lap 52!
LAP 52
With the extra around 19 kmph or 12 mph. Gets close to Hamilton who seems to be pushing hard but would like to go into the first turn cautiously as he was having some traction issues. But how much traction does Verstappen have? Has he over heated and over used those tyres in the process of catching up to Hamilton? That was not to be known as Hamilton held Verstappen off well, by mainy sticking to the racing line and going for the apex, not aggressively defending but Hamilton had one more straight to defend on, and now it had started becoming clear that Hamilton was getting more traction than Verstappen as after failing for the second time on the same lap, the gap between the increased in the second sector, where Verstappen as per trends should have been way faster. Or was Verstappen recovering energy or trying to make himself ready for the next lap overtake and not take any risk in the sector filled with corners? Such questions can only be answered by tapping into the driver’s mind.
LAP 53
Verstappen is in DRS range but again fails as Hamilton has just been getting good traction but it wasn’t to be for Hamilton on the second straight as he gets overtaken into Turn 4, but as Hamiltin does not give away and tries to pull his car staying wheel to wheel having hold of the inside line, Verstappen pushes for a bit longer and goes off track, which seems clearly unforced by Hamilton as Hamilton was behind him and not that close to him. Hamilton reports this to his team through the radio, and Verstappen gets a message from Horner who was very jolly a second ago, that he should give back the place at the moment1
What Red Bull were doing right now were that they were trying to avoid any investigation and a 5 second time – penalty and rather allow Hamilton to go forward and then overtake over the next 3 laps, which seemed a very plausible idea for a moment until, Hamilton uses the DRS and gains momentum while overtaking him and has a very successful final straight and final corner but stays in DRS range for Verstappen. This is where it slipped away from Red Bull now.
LAP 54
The same routine is repeated with Verstappen having the DRS and going to overtake but at Turn 1 it was not Hamilton but Verstappen who had lost tractions.
What Hamilton had done was that after pitting early he had not been giving too fast laps but laps that kept the tyres in the right temperature as he knew that tyres will be an important factors, and so did Red Bull but Verstappen kept pushing faster and faster, only slowing a bit for recharging the ERS system or when there was a lapped car in front of him. Hamilton was utilising his DRS against such cars with care to gain an extra advantage. Hamilton has been seen earlier to be able to work his tyres well for long stints, especially as the fuel load keeps decreasing. Verstappen had now lost that required grip especially going a bit wide a lap before, and also putting a lot more stress than before. The newer hard tyres could also be facing heating issues now because of the amount of work they had done and the stress put on them with the 19 kmph extra speed that he was continuously getting for several straights now, and breaking hard.
This had helped Hamilton for that lap and by the time the DRS Detection Zone was reached to check for distance between the two cars for the main straight DRS, the gap had increased to just a bit more than 1 second, and with Verstappen not having DRS, and Hamilton now having traction, on what was a worn tyre, things were getting exciting.
LAP 55
By the end of the first straight, the gap had increased further and a bit more by Turn 4. This had been sealed by Mercedes, as Verstappen was only going to lose more traction and Hamilton just had to maintain a good pace. It was a safe lap for Hamilton but Verstappen had come into the DRS range for the final lap.
It was Hamilton’s to lose now as the gap was still big enough and Hamilton had to stick to the racing line. Hamilton could spin off with it being windy and traction still not being the greatest friend. Hamilton had to put a lot of pressure on his tyres and push them to the fullest as he would mainly only get two opportunities as if he fails on the first two straight, Hamilton will be just too far in the third DRS zone on the back straight. The question was still there, if Verstappen overtakes at the end of the main straight, will Hamilton regain his position in the second DRS zone?
Verstappen with the DRS!
LAP 56 – FINAL LAP
Verstappen misses the opportunity on first straight, Hamilton makes no mistake as he sticks to the racing line, and just closes the door slightly but now was Verstappen’s time to shine, on the second straight. It would seal it for Verstappen but he misses it as he is not able to make up any time through Turns 2 and 3. And the back straight DRS challenge was like a formality to push by Verstappen as although it might look like it was close, it wasn’t but that allowed Verstappen to get into a striking distance if Hamilton makes a mistake through Turn 13.
Through the last straight, through the final corner and over the finish line. For the first time since 2015, Hamilton wins the opening Grand Prix of a season as the Mercedes garage erupts in joy, and Red Bull’s pit wall in sunk in sad silence.
As pointed out by many, this highlights and supports the point made by Verstappen post the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2020 on the question as to why should Mercedes spend so much to sign Lewis Hamilton – “Because he will make the difference in the most crucial moments. That is why he is a seven-time world champion”
This proves again how good Lewis Hamilton is as a driver individually. WHAT A RACE AND WHAT A SEASON OPENER!
|MORE SUCH GREAT BATTLES AWAIT IN 2021|
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