It did not go the way Mercedes was hoping for. The German team was the team to beat going into the qualifying, but it was Red Bull who came out on top. Lewis Hamilton finished P2 behind Max Verstappen for one of the most important poles in recent memory.

Hamilton will have another disadvantage, as he will start the race on medium tires. Drivers around him like Verstappen, Norris, and Perez would be on soft tires, this will give them an advantage during the first few laps of the race.

But one thing in favor of the 7-time world champion is that the medium tires will go longer, consequently delaying his pit stop, which will give him the chance to make it a one-stop race for himself. To analyze every potential situation for the race, the Mercedes strategy team and Lewis left the track late on Saturday.

The team would be hoping to cover every scenario and come out on top at the end.

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I’m always kind of skeptical with everything: Lewis Hamilton

As reported by ESPN, the championship contender was a bit skeptical on why Verstappen decided to set his best lap time on soft tires in the qualifying session. He suggested that it might have been their plan all along.

“It’s interesting. I’m always kind of skeptical with everything so it’ll be interesting when we go back and look at the information and onboard laps, it’s very rare that people lock up in Turn 1 but if he truly did lock up in Turn 1 then maybe whether or not we’re in a better position in terms of that tire,” said Hamilton.

Lewis was confident that he and the team were on the right tires. “Maybe they know something we don’t and that soft tire was their plan all the time. We struggled a bit more on soft tires for the long runs, so I think we’ve got the right tire, but we’ll see tomorrow.” said the Mercedes driver.

The different tire strategies could be pivotal in deciding who lifts the championship. It would be interesting to see if Red Bull‘s aggressive strategy pays off 0r Mercedes’ logical approach succeeds.

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