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[Hammer278]

Why was Button pitted first everytime? Especially the last one when he was out of it? Lewis lost 10 seonds there!!

I think that was down to the call by the drivers. Lewis was more conservative both times, he made it out first time around, though second time he was boxed in by the Ferrari pitstops and emerged behind Button.

Button always goes for the early call anyway, whenever he sees he can't keep pace with Lewis on the same tyres.

[racechick]

Why was Button pitted first everytime? Especially the last one when he was out of it? Lewis lost 10 seonds there!!

Maybe Lewis wanted to stay out longer for a bit, who knows. It wasn't the best of days for McLaren, but at least they can remain confident that they've got the fastest car. Hopefully, this will still be the case in three weeks time!

Wanted to stay out a bit?? When Buttons engineer is telling him the slicks are 4 or 5 seconds a lap quicker than the inters. Lewis decides it would be nice to stay out a bit.

[racechick]

Why was Button pitted first everytime? Especially the last one when he was out of it? Lewis lost 10 seonds there!!

I think that was down to the call by the drivers. Lewis was more conservative both times, he made it out first time around, though second time he was boxed in by the Ferrari pitstops and emerged behind Button.

Button always goes for the early call anyway, whenever he sees he can't keep pace with Lewis on the same tyres.

Well he was beaten hands down on tyre management today. And how come he gets the call if he's not the lead driver?

[Hammer278]

I meant he requested for the stop, the team relies on the driver's feedback in these conditions nearly all the time. Lewis probably stayed silent a bit longer so the team assumes he's alright. They can't guarantee better pace either way, which is why they rely on the drivers calling for stops.

BTW, Hamilton was racing Sergio and Alonso. Button was racing nobody, so he could take more gambles. Lewis had more to lose, why risk taking a gamble when the first two in front are still out on track?

At that time, no one knew if the rains were coming again....for Button it didn't matter anymore as he was out of it.

[oaba09]

Why was Button pitted first everytime? Especially the last one when he was out of it? Lewis lost 10 seonds there!!

Driver choice? Different strategies? Maybe lewis wanted to stay out longer? Maybe lewis's engineer messed up? We can't read the minds of the drivers and the engineers.....Besides, it's not like button and lewis have the same engineers....At the end of the day, it's the driver's choice if he wants to pit or not...

[LewEngBridewell]

I meant he requested for the stop, the team relies on the driver's feedback in these conditions nearly all the time. Lewis probably stayed silent a bit longer so the team assumes he's alright. They can't guarantee better pace either way, which is why they rely on the drivers calling for stops.

and...

Why was Button pitted first everytime? Especially the last one when he was out of it? Lewis lost 10 seonds there!!

Driver choice? Different strategies? Maybe lewis wanted to stay out longer? Maybe lewis's engineer messed up? We can't read the minds of the drivers and the engineers.....Besides, it's not like button and lewis have the same engineers....At the end of the day, it's the driver's choice if he wants to pit or not...

People love laying all the blame on McLaren, it's f*cking ridiculous.

[racechick]

Right, Lewis should have been paying more attention to the timimg screens and watching those cars that had switched to slicks...whilst driving the car in difficult conditions. He was in with a shout for the win and McLaren KNEW the slicks were 5 secs a lap quicker. What are his strategists paid for??

[scotty]

People love laying all the blame on McLaren, it's f*cking ridiculous.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous too. But then the blame could never lie with Hamilton! Even accounting for pitlane mishaps today (not all of which can be blamed on the team), Hamilton still had no answer for Perez and Alonso.

[Hammer278]

Right, Lewis should have been paying more attention to the timimg screens and watching those cars that had switched to slicks...whilst driving the car in difficult conditions. He was in with a shout for the win and McLaren KNEW the slicks were 5 secs a lap quicker. What are his strategists paid for??

Racechick! All of them were expecting rain again which is why everyone were holding out on crappy intermediates on a nearly dry track! Button and a coupla others at the back went for slicks as they had nothing to lose. Get it?

[racechick]

No. Alonso went in and he was at the front.

[Hammer278]

Exactly, and Lewis went in the lap after. Lewis probably aimed for all bases to be covered - ie, if the rains come, everyone gets affected together. At that time he had a 10 second buffer to Vettel so it didn't matter much. McLaren probably wanted to salvage the podium when they found out their cars handle like Ferraris in the wet!

[LewEngBridewell]

In the event of tricky conditions such as these, split strategies are often the best way forward, initially. Jenson got onto the slicks even though rain was still predicted... I thought that was a gamble, while Lewis' strategy was safer.

In the end, the predicted rain didn't come, and Lewis pitted when the guys on slicks went immediately faster.

That's racing.

[racechick]

He pitted two laps after the guys on slicks went faster. And McLaren knew they were going faster.

[LewEngBridewell]

He pitted two laps after the guys on slicks went faster. And McLaren knew they were going faster.

But they also knew rain was the on the way! It was a questions on when, rather than "if", and that's very hard to gauge! They wouldn't purposely screw up Lewis' race! That's just shooting oneself in the foot!

[racechick]

People love laying all the blame on McLaren, it's f*cking ridiculous.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous too. But then the blame could never lie with Hamilton! Even accounting for pitlane mishaps today (not all of which can be blamed on the team), Hamilton still had no answer for Perez and Alonso.

I will 'blame' Lewis if the error is his, I did so last week.