Why wasn't Hamiltons Mclaren fueled to the end in Brazil?

Question

This season in F1 stinks! I think the sport has far too much money & corruption going on in it!
Ron Dennis said that they didn't fill Hamilton's car to the end because it saved 10 seconds on running a heavy fuel load with slower lap times?!?
I'm no mathematician but a pit stop takes around 20 seconds!!
I'm sure tyres would have gone to the end of the race.

Also China why would you risk point leader on balding tyres because you were worried about other teams pit strategies.
He could have gone to Brazil with only needing a couple of points to have the Championship in his rookie season!
Is this bad decision making by Ron & the team?!?
Do they want Lewis not have too much too soon?!?

Answer 1

Well when I was watching the Brazilian grand prix I was thinking "what the hell is Ron doing?" The guy who answered before me is right, you need to ask Ron to know for sure but I guess Ron was a. afraid of the rain since he only had one set of wet tyres b. he thought Lewis would be able to catch up lighter c. he thought of putting the softs on his car since they ahve more grip and make you go faster, but that never works in Interlagos, never! They grain before they can do anything. if Lewis just stuck with fourth and didn't try to overtake Alonso then he would ahve been champion. So it's a two way blame, Lewis and the team (meaning Ron), wow I still can't get what those two forces were thinking!

Answer 2

Lots of answers, but nobody has truely hit the nail on the head.

Logic to switch to three stops:

The Ambient temperature was so high that Bridgestone thought the Soft tyre could be up to 3 seconds a lap slower than the hard, once it had gone roughly more than 13 laps it would grain and have this pace. However the soft tyre is very quick for the first 10 laps or so.
Mclarens logic was to put Lewis on a clear track for a 14 lap stint on soft tyres, so he would avoid the serious graining and could really push hard and not hit traffic.
The idea was that then at the end of the race he would be on the hard tyre and all the cars infront would have to do 1/3 distance (24 laps) on the soft tyre and would be seriously struggling with graining - hopefully 3 seconds a lap slower.

The Mclaren is also the heaviest car on its tyres, thats why it qualifies so well. It can get them up to temperature and subsequently eats them quicker. Thus even more reason for Lewis not to do 24 laps on the softs - what he would have had to have done it he had 2 stopped.

This did not work out, because the temperature fell and the soft tyres lasted longer than expected. They were only about 1 second slower after the 15 lap period.
I firmly believe is Lewis stayed on a 2 stop he would have got 5th place and the title though and I do not believe Ron's 10 seconds faster nonsense - no way - I have examined the lap times and it doesn't work out.Equal at best I would say.

Answer 3

I totally agree with you, also in an earlier race I think it was at the Nurburgring, They put dry tyres on Lewis's tyres when it was still wet he had to go round at about twelve seconds off the pace, needless to say that he didn't score any points. If he had been allowed to stay out another five laps on the intermediates which he had enough fuel to do, he could have had a podium finish. Then there was the infamous incident where Lewis had the argument with Ron Dennis which led to Alonso blocking him in the pits. The whole thing stinks as far as I am concerned, there has definitely been a conspiracy to stop Lewis this season. In my opinion, the reason for this has been to appease Alonso.

Answer 4

You answered your own question. You said you are sure the tyres would have made it to the end. Then in the next paragraph you said Hamilton had tyre problems in China. He had tyre problems in China! Would they want to risk another in Brazil?

Well, guess what? Raikkonen and Alonso had the same tyres as Hamilton in China and they both stopped later than him! They did not have nearly as much problem as he did.

If it was a risk to not change his tyres earlier in China, it was also a huge risk putting hard compound tyres on his car for a two-stopper in Brazil!

FYI, Hamilton came in with 35 laps to go for his second stop in Brazil. How are you so sure that his tyres could have lasted half the race distance (a 71 lap race) on a full tank of fuel and in searing heat? Track temp was 140-degree Fahrenheit! You cannot possibly be sure.

As some respondents have already realized, this question sounds like another why Hamilton lost excuse.

Answer 5

This 3 stop strategy of Hamilton has been the center of conspiracies. Some think McLaren had to let Hamilton lose and let Kimi win as part of an 'agreement' during the spy scandal saga. But I believe in Dennis. Since he said that it saved 10 seconds, then it was better.

Lewis was behind Fernando by 30+ seconds when he experienced the glitch. After the race he was behind 17 seconds so it makes sense.

Answer 6

No it's not. All his stop times is short enough for a 3 stopper, not 2.

And no, NO way Ron Dennis is trying to delay hamilton's championship.

In F1, there's no could have, should have and if. What done is done. Lewis is not prepared for it, after all it's his first year, and there's no such thing as miracle.

To be a champion, you have to be able to handle the psychology behind it as well, not just winning races. That is one thing a new comer can never get right. He fumbles to the pressure of fighting for the world champion, although he did fine.

In the end, he had his own share of mistake. He engage the wrong button that drop him right back P18, that was his own mistake.

Lewis is no god, he's just a good driver like any other good driver who tends to make mistake, and learn. He has to make these mistakes before can win the championship, that's the only way he can learn.

Answer 7

Tyre degridation

when he went out for his short stint on the super softs the mechanics noticed that the harder of the two compounds had worn very badly at the front after 22 laps and the plan was to do 14 laps on the super softs and come in to pit for 35 laps of fuel to the end but they changed their mind thinking the tyres at the front wouldnt hack it

hence why he pitted once to change onto super softs

2nd to get off super softs and

3rd to bolt on another set of tyres as the harder of the choices wouldnt hack 35 laps

which makes me wonder why didnt they just play with the front wing setting on the car of Hamilton to help slow down the tyre degridation process

Answer 8

I replied the same question presently yet evaluate this : Lewis is on 107 factors, Fernando is on 103 factors and Kimi is on a hundred factors. the excellent option? i become questioning after the chinese language Grand Prix - if Kimi comes 2d ( + 8 factors); Fernando comes fourth ( + 5 factors), and Lewis finishes 8th ( + a million element), they're going to all be on 108 factors. i be attentive to it might then flow on a countback yet what a concern! Kimi has won 5 Grand Prix this 12 months to Fernando's 4 so given the above concern, he'd win the championship!

Answer 9

Alonso himself has said that McLaren got their strategies wrong towards the second half of the season. Not fueling Lewis' car to the end was definitely a mistake. And a costly one too.

Answer 10

At the time they thought it was the best tactic to go for. I imagine its very hard to get it right every time, what with changing track conditions, not knowing for sure where you Willl slot back in the traffic, or when your competitors wil stop.

They made the wrong decisions in the last two races and that's all, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Do you honestly think McLaren would stop their driver's winning the championship. The team receives millions in sponsorship each year and has to account for their actions to them.