Why Didn't Hamilton Complete His Flyer For A Top 4 Time?

[RayInTorontoCanada]

I was very dissapointed to see Hamilton gesticulating at Massa once he'd passed him under waved Blues...and then lift off inspite of only being 3-tenths off at Sector 1.

Given that he went out late in the session, wouldn't he have been better off just completing the rest of his flyer at-or-near 10/10ths, using it as his 'banker' effectively?

Yes, Massa was out on the circuit...But, there's always going to be someone out on the circuit at Monaco! (Even Vettel had to pass a car on his Pole lap!)

This isn't me asking the question in hindsight...This is me asking as it was happening...Even Coulthard said there's no point in waving out to Massa, echoing my own sentiments at that exact moment.

Hamilton had the pace to set a Top 4 time had he completed that flyer...and then, theoretically, still would have another opportunity to improve after a cool-down lap to bring the Super Softs into play again for a second flyer.

Why not complete the lap - as your 'banker' - knowing that anything can happen in Monaco...including having yet another car out there on it's own out/in lap?

Made no sense.

Instead of starting 4th or 3rd or, possibly, even 2nd...Hamilton's got a mountain to climb.

He ought to have kept his head down and did his best to complete that flyer instead of giving up and taking time to show his sign language skills to the Ferrari driver!

 

[johnnoble1990]

I think "hindsight is a wonderful thing" is a cliche to sum this up. He could've set a reasonable time and maybe got 2nd here, but Lewis was not going for 2nd, he was extremely focused on pole and for that reason i think he did the right thing to back off and save tyres.

 

[Brogan]

I agree with John.

As soon as he saw he was 3 tenths down on his delta, he aborted the lap, trying to cool his tyres down so he could go for it on the very next lap.

With only 10 minutes for Q3, going out late is a risky strategy, especially at Monaco of all places, and it backfired badly.

 

[Boyle]

Wasn't there a slight problem with his car that they had to fix, hence the delay in him going out?

 

[johnnoble1990]

Not sure. Would be the first i've heard of it. DC did say he wasn't in his car at the end but as far as i'm aware we never got a reason why. Probably something to do with the drama that followed.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Ted Kravitz mentioned something about a small problem with the car at the start of Q3 and Hamilton was out of the car to start with. Have we heard anymore about a protest for Massa's blocking?

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

John, Brogan and Boyle:

The fact that he was let out of the garage later than the others is precisely why he ought to have completed that flyer!

The fact that he was sent out later than the others is exactly why I thought he should have completed that lap ... as his 'banker' lap ... inpsite of his delta being 3-10ths down at the S1 timing point!

And this isn't hindsight.

I would love to see Vettel challenged, so I was dissapointed that Lewis just lifted knowing that it's Monaco!

You'll rarely get a 100% smooth lap at Monaco...so it was vital that he got that lap in the bag as best he could...eventhough the target was Pole.

I totally agree the target was Pole...but the lateness of the hour and the constraints of this particular circuit meant that he needed to get a decent time "in the bank"...and then take another crack at Pole.

Am I out to lunch?

I mean, it's not just about Pole only...It's about Grid Position for a 78 lap race...as well as the Championship Points table.

A good banker would have ensured better Grid Position and a better probability of Points.

 

[Brogan]

My comment was why he did what he did, not whether it was the right approach or not.

In my opinion he saw his delta time and aborted the lap.
Why? Only Hamilton can tell you that.

He and Whitmarsh have confirmed he was only going to do a single run.
So presumably that's why?
His single run was going to be the next lap?

 

[MCLS]

But what would be better, finishing a runined lap for fifth and ruining the tyres, or save the tyres for a second attempt. They didn't know there was going to be a big accident towards the end of the session, you cannot make strategies on unknown variables

 

[gethinceri]

Mclaren calling it wrong - not for the first time.

 

[MCLS]

Does anyone know what Hamiltons S1 time was on that lap?

 

[Brogan]

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/mco-qualifying-sectors.pdf

Those are best sector times though, not necessarily that lap.

 

[MCLS]

That shows Hamiltons best lap though, I'd like to know what the S1 time was when he was blocked by Massa

 

[johnnoble1990]

I thought Hamilton did the Hamilton approach. It isn't necessarily the right approach, but it is the all or nothing which makes him my favourite driver. I think if we are realistic he was simply unlikely. You take the risks knowing in most occasions you will be fine, this just happen to be the one it didn't payoff.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

But what would be better, finishing a runined lap for fifth and ruining the tyres, or save the tyres for a second attempt. They didn't know there was going to be a big accident towards the end of the session, you cannot make strategies on unknown variables

First of all, he could have still pulled out a lap that would have been 2nd or 3rd fastest, inpsite of being down 3-tenths at S1.

Secondly, because he was sent out later than the others, Lewis didn't have a banker lap...That could have been his banker lap - his 2nd fastest of the session, if he went better still later on another flyer...and there was plenty of time for another flyer.

Lastly, McLaren know Monaco. They've won there 14 times...and they know all about accounting for variables, including accounting for possible Saftey Car scenarios during an actual Grand Prix.

There's always a chance of a crash at Monaco. Even a small one that might slow you up, however slightly...OR of yet another car on their out/in lap doing what Massa did.

Those are real variables at Monaco.

 

[MCLS]

First of all, he could have still pulled out a lap that would have been 2nd or 3rd fastest, inpsite of being down 3-tenths at S1.

He also could have had a lap which was 6th or 7th, which would make the lap about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

 

[Slyboogy]

I am quite sure that Hamilton was 6 tenths down in the first sector, or was that the second sector in his first lap in Q3?

Or did my eyes decieve me?

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

He also could have had a lap which was 6th or 7th, which would make the lap about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

No.

No because he was only down 3-10ths after passing Massa.

That means that if Hamilton's McLaren was capabable of Pole at Monaco, then he would have still finished the lap in the neighbourhood of 3-10ths down on Vettel's Pole lap, give or take 1-10ths or 2-10ths.

If the rest of the lap was better than Vettel's S2 and S3 times, he would have been less than 3-10ths down on Vettel...Good enough for the FRONT ROW.

If the rest of the lap was worse than Vettel's S2 and S3 times by about 1.5 - 10ths, he still might have been on the FRONT ROW!

Remember, the gap from Vettel to Button was 4.5-10ths!

The gap from Vettel to Alonso in 4th was over 9-10ths!

So, assuming that the McLaren in Hamilton's hands was good enough for Pole, then you have to also assume that Hamilton would have put in a lap that would have been certainly superior to that of Alonso's!

That's no where near 6th or 7th as you're suggesting.

Cheers, MCLS

 

[MCLS]

He would have been more likely to have made a mistake on that lap due to the disruption caused by that incident though, he would have been angry, which has led to incidents in the past. You can't use previous laps to predict what Hamilton would have done, particularly on a track like Monaco

 

[Brogan]

The dicussion is moot really considering Hamilton himself has confirmed he was only ever going to do one lap.

Hence why he aborted this lap, ready for the following lap.