Mercedes' Superior Strategy Enables Lewis Hamilton to Win British Grand Prix

After Lewis Hamilton threw away victory with an ill-advised pit stop at the Monaco Grand Prix in May, Mercedes' strategy was flawless at Silverstone Circuit on Sunday, enabling Hamilton to overcome a poor start and that inevitable English rain to win the British Grand Prix—his fifth victory in nine Formula One races this year.

Although Hamilton and his team-mate Nico Rosberg qualified first and second, Felipe Massa nosed his Williams between the two Silver Arrows on the run down to Abbey corner at the start. Valtteri Bottas, in the other Williams, nearly followed him through but settled for third on the opening lap.

Meanwhile, further back, a collision involving Daniel Ricciardo, as well as both Lotuses and both McLarens, brought out the safety car. At the restart, Hamilton pushed too hard to get past Massa, running wide and allowing Bottas through. 

As the two Williams held the Mercs at bay for lap after lap, hope took hold that maybe—just maybe—there would be a result other than a sixth Mercedes one-two (and eighth win) in nine races this year.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

On Sunday at Silverstone, though, just an hour down the road from Hamilton's birthplace in Stevenage, Mercedes' decisive pit stop calls made the difference, while Williams struggled to keep pace despite their early lead.

With Massa, Bottas and Hamilton each separated by less than a second on Lap 14, the Mercedes pit crew ran to their pit box, as though one of their cars was coming in for a stop. Both Mercs carried on, though, along with the two Williams.

Rule 23.11 in the Sporting Regulations states, "Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete." 

Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff admitted the team violated this rule, telling the BBC, "Sometimes you have to play the little games but [Williams] did not swallow the dummy."

It seems that Mercedes will escape punishment for trying to force Williams' hand into making an early pit stop, though.

Five laps later, Hamilton did dive into the pits while both Williams continued for another lap. Had Massa pitted at the same time, he might have stayed ahead.

Instead, the Mercedes pit crew's speed—Hamilton's stop was 1.4 seconds quicker than Massa's, according to a graphic shown on the television feed—and that one extra lap on fresh tyres allowed Hamilton to jump Massa, who just barely stayed ahead of Rosberg when they both pitted the next time around. Meanwhile, Bottas had to wait another lap for his stop, also just staying in front of the second Merc.

Driver	In-lap	Out-lap	Position before stops	Position after stops
Felipe Massa	1m 37.901s	1m 58.445s	1	2
Valtteri Bottas	1m 36.610s	1m 58.416s	2	3
Lewis Hamilton	1m 37.846s	1m 56.349s	3	1
Nico Rosberg	1m 36.975s	1m 58.054s	4	4

Released from the Williams, Hamilton quickly pulled away, building an eight-second lead by Lap 37.

Throughout the afternoon, dark clouds threatened the track and rain could be seen falling in the distance in many of the wide-angle television shots. From mid-way through the race, it was apparent that the rains would come—but no one knew exactly when, how hard they would be or how long they would last.

Around Lap 35, umbrellas started to pop up around the circuit and some of the cars running further back started to pit for intermediate rain tyres, taking a chance the weather would worsen.

At that point, it was obvious Massa did not have the pace to catch Hamilton. Meanwhile, television viewers heard Bottas repeatedly ask over the team radio to switch his tyres.

Williams qualified both cars on the front row at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix, but they finished third and fourth and the team faced criticism for employing an overly conservative strategy (see BBC pundit James Allen's race report for an example).

Choosing an alternate strategy to Mercedes on Sunday, at least for one of their cars, might have given Williams a fighting chance when the heavier rains came. Instead, the team chose a conservative strategy once again, seeking to protect their second and third positions. And as in Austria a year ago, it did not pay off.

On Lap 39, with Bottas visibly struggling for grip, Rosberg passed him at Copse. From that point, Bottas fell completely off the pace and never recovered, finishing fifth. Two laps later, Rosberg passed Massa and began closing on Hamilton.

As the rain continued, it was Mercedes and Hamilton who again made the perfect call, pitting first among the front-runners, on Lap 43.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, running fifth, followed Hamilton in, ultimately vaulting him ahead of the Williams and onto the podium.

Rosberg, Massa and Bottas came in just one lap later, but that extra lap on slick tyres around a wet track ensured no one would have a chance of catching Hamilton.

"We waited one lap longer on the second stop which is where we lost the opportunity to be on the podium," lamented Massa in a team press release. "That shower also highlighted the car's weakness in the wet."

As in Monaco, it was ultimately Hamilton's decision to pit when he did, saying after the race, per Sky Sports' Pete Gill, "It's always tricky for the guy out in the lead, but I think it's the first time in my Formula 1 career I perfectly made the right choice as I could see the rain coming more. So I feel extremely happy about that."

"

GUYS!!! What an amazing RACE!! Thank you all for the incredible support, you all are amazing. IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME!!! pic.twitter.com/oB3fuDtUI9

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 5, 2015"

Meanwhile, according to the same piece, Rosberg explained, "He made the right call and I was pretty sure it was wrong. I was happy to stay out and I was thinking 'this is mine'. But then it started to rain and I was finished."

Of course, had the rain let off earlier, Hamilton might have been caught out on rapidly degrading intermediate tyres, but that just demonstrates the tiny margins in play when determining strategy in the midst of an F1 race.

At Monaco, Mercedes and Hamilton got it wrong, dropping him from first to third. At Silverstone, they got it right, and Hamilton climbed from third to first, winning his home race for the third time.

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