Peter Windsor questions Lewis Hamilton criticism of Mercedes after strategy mistake

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Lewis Hamilton criticised his team during the Singapore Grand Prix for their tyre strategy at the start of the race.

Mercedes had started Lewis Hamilton on the soft tyre while everyone else opted for either the medium or hard, effectively forcing the seven-time world champion into pitting earlier than his rivals.

The early stop caused him to drop behind teammate George Russell and eventually Charles Leclerc, with Hamilton finishing the race in sixth and 85 seconds off eventual race winner Lando Norris.

Hamilton issued a statement in the days after the race on social media, whereby he addressed his comments directed at the team which appeared to insinuate that he was no longer part of their pre-race driver briefings.

Peter Windsor has questioned why Mercedes thought it was a sensible strategy to begin with on his YouTube channel, knowing that it would be difficult for Hamilton to pull off without passing Max Verstappen and Norris at the start.

Peter Windsor questions Mercedes’ strategy for Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes was ‘in the woods’ for most of the weekend on tyres, having found they suffered from overheating on all compounds including the hard tyre.

Russell said he knew as soon as he saw the tyres for Hamilton that his teammate would disprove of the strategy, which ultimately played into the Briton’s hands later in the race.

Mercedes chief technical officer James Allison later admitted they made the wrong decision by choosing to put Hamilton on the soft at the start given their issues, however, Windsor has questioned whether it should have been an option in the first place.

“It’s a moot point whether Lewis suggested it to the team or the team suggested it to Lewis and he endorsed it,” said Windsor.

“The point is they did it and why? Only to get an advantage off the line in a relatively short run into Turn 1 at Singapore, and he’s trying to overtake one of the hardest guys in F1 in Max Verstappen. If he hasn’t got past him or Lando Norris, then the whole point of him running the soft goes out the window.”

Mercedes plans next big upgrade for W15 in Austin

Mercedes will bring its next big upgrade for the W15 to the US Grand Prix in Austin, having dropped behind since the summer break.

The team has won three races so far this season but has not looked like win favourites since their last victory at the Belgian Grand Prix in July.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Mercedes AMG F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Hamilton admitted after the Azerbaijan GP that he had to drive his Mercedes in the ‘weirdest way’ to keep his tyre temperatures down.

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin confirmed recently that a ‘bigger package’ will be fitted to their car at the next race in Austin, following the four week break.