Gary Anderson has suggested that Lewis Hamilton is not as involved with Mercedes, saying that he could help Mercedes a little more than what he is doing now.
Hamilton was angry with his team for a strategic error at the Turkish GP. It was eventually revealed that Mercedes was right, and that the seven-time world champion was wrong to lash out. He has since admitted his mistake, and vowed to move forward with his team.
However, Anderson suggested that Hamilton is not as involved with Mercedes, and said that he isn’t helping them operate at a 100%.
In his column for the Race, Anderson wrote, “Strategy could be a deciding factor in the 2021 title fight between Max Verstappen/Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton/Mercedes given it’s so close.
“But one thing I would have to say is I believe Red Bull is more black and white in its strategies. It decides on a strategy as the race circumstances develop, commits to it and does it. Right or wrong, it’s gone with it.
“Compared to that, there always seems to be a bit of confusion about Mercedes’ strategy, it’s never quite as decisive.”
A tale of two drivers
“Hamilton, I think, is a big part of that strategy reading,” he continued.
“We obviously don’t hear everything on the radio, but from what we do hear Verstappen is pretty good at informing the team of what he’s feeling in his car. And that’s really where it ends for him. He doesn’t really do much more than that.
“Whereas Hamilton often seems to want to throw out extra information here and there, he sees that as part of the job. And that can sometimes be a big part of strategy decisions or indecision, as the case may be.”
“There’s a lot less moaning about stuff from Max than there is from Lewis. And that can all play a part in it.
“Because when you’re complaining to your team, your team is being forced to think in a direction away from what they would do themselves, because they’re trying to satisfy the strategy required and satisfy the driver as well, and sometimes those two don’t go together,” he concluded.