Lewis Hamilton takes longest to generate pace but can preserve tyres most with three tenths of secs added pace against Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton took the longest to get pace with his new soft tyres, but it ended up being the fastest among all once the tyres started wearing out.

During the British Grand Prix’s final laps, it seemed like it was hammer time, with Lewis Hamilton leading the race. But during the race restart after the safety car, Carlos Sainz flew away with an impactful start.

On the other hand, Hamilton right behind him struggled to get pace with his new tyres. Mercedes revealed that W13 takes longer than its counterparts to get the tyres warm and ready to have pace.

Therefore, when Mercedes started to show considerable pace, it was too late to go for the win. Though, the results were satisfactory for Mercedes with Hamilton at P3.

Seeing this, it may not look like an advantage for Mercedes. However, a report by the AMuS claims that though W13 takes the longest to generate pace from new tyres, they sustain the longest too.

The report further stated that the fastest lap by Hamilton was three-tenths of a second faster than the face winner Carlos Sainz. Had the race been a bit longer, Mercedes could have fetched more points or even a win.

#BritishGP 🇬🇧: Lewis Hamilton was racing on equal footing with the Red Bull and the Ferraris. Whenever his tyres started wearing, Hamilton became the fastest man on track.

According to AMuS, no car preserves tyres like Mercedes’ W13. His fastest lap 0.3 faster than Sainz’s.

— deni (@fiagirly) July 5, 2022

Also read: F1 Twitter reacts as FIA rule Red Bull and Ferrari floors illegal French GP onwards

Lewis Hamilton can still make a comeback

Hamilton didn’t have the best start to the season, but now with upgrades made by the Silver Arrows, they are able to regularly fight for podiums.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has claimed that his team is yet to get the entire potential of their car. Even Hamilton now believes that the seven-time world champions are close to winning again.

“The fact that we were able to follow and dice like that, lap on lap, is a testament to the direction I think that we’re now in. I was just grateful that I could be in the battle. Because I’ve not been in that fight for a while,” said Hamilton.

Also read: When Bernie Ecclestone praised Adolf Hitler’s leadership and believed women in F1 will not be taken seriously

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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