Mercedes explain why the cost cap forced them into key Lewis Hamilton decision at the US Grand Prix

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Mercedes has explained why they chose not to change Lewis Hamilton’s car setup for the United States Grand Prix, after he expressed concerns that it might be difficult to make progress.

Lewis Hamilton had qualified towards the back of the grid in 17th after making a setup change following the Sprint race that turned his Mercedes into a ‘nightmare’ to drive.

Despite making a good start and overtaking several cars to get as high as 12th place, three laps into the race Hamilton lost control of his W15 at Turn 18 and spun into the gravel trap. Martin Brundle said it looked like there was ‘nothing he could do’ when commentating on Hamilton’s onboard.

Hamilton initially blamed the upgrades made to his Mercedes for the spin, having suffered the same issue during practice, while teammate George Russell insisted it was a more complicated problem.

It was initially thought that Mercedes would suffer a double pit lane start following Russell’s crash in qualifying and Hamilton’s car setup problems, but the team opted to not make any changes to the seven-time world champion.

This was in part due to a cost cap-related issue, according to Technical Director James Allison, who explained the reason behind leaving his car in the same state in their Strategy Debrief video.

James Allison explains cost cap reason behind Lewis Hamilton US GP setup decision

A change of setup and engine components under Parc Ferme would have required a pit lane start for Hamilton, but Mercedes was reluctant to make any adjustments despite discussing it with the Briton according to Allison.

“The answer is not totally straightforward. It was an option to do what George did and to start from the pit lane having changed the setup on his car between qualifying and the race,” said Allison.

“We didn’t have any reason to think there was much wrong with Lewis’ setup. He had the best bodywork, the best grid position which is further forward than starting from the pit lane, and so why not start where you qualified?

“If you do put another engine in here, you go to the back of the grid, because of the grid place penalty start from the pit lane, we could have priced that in. But more significantly, you don’t get to just put another engine in and not pay for it financially. If your engine breaks because it’s got a problem, then the way the rules are written is that you can have another power unit at that point and it not impact your cost cap. But if you just say ‘I want one because I want one’, that’s a different matter. You have to pay for it.

“That would not have been a good trade. The freshness of a new power unit would have lifted your lap times fractionally, but the cost in cost cap hit would have not paid that worth back.”

Toto Wolff spots key correlation issue after Mercedes US GP upgrade

Mercedes submitted six upgraded components in their car presentation submission document, including changes to the floor, front wing, front suspension and engine cover for the W15.

The team only had the luxury of one practice session to get the setup right on both cars, owing to the fact that that it was a Sprint weekend in Austin.

Russell had to run the entire US GP with a partially upgraded car after damaging some of the new components in his qualifying crash, while Hamilton’s retirement meant they did not gather a lot of data.

Toto Wolff believes the team has yet to optimise their package and does not think their poor weekend was down to the updates.