I hope Bono or James Vowles do one of their post-race strategy breakdowns this week. It's always interesting to hear what the thinking was in the Mercedes pit wall.
One thing I think they were not expecting: How quickly Lewis and Valteri's hard tires went off. Especially compared to Verstappen, who seemed to have no problem running them hard quite deep into the race, even with a full fuel load. I was telling myself that once Verstappen went onto the mediums he'd have a very short stint before pitting again. But that just didn't seem to happen.
I also got the feeling that Lewis was a bit tentative in chasing down the leaders in his last stint. Maybe the experience of finishing on three wheels the week before played into that. But by the time he got past Leclerc it was pretty much impossible for him to chase Verstappen down. I personally think Mercedes were dithering thinking about keeping Hamilton out for a one-stopper. If they'd brought him in for a new set of hard tires four or five laps earlier, it might have given him enough time to reel Verstappen in.
Lastly: Red Bull's strategy was bold. (Although not that bold, as all they needed to do in Q2 was finish in the top 10. Hamilton and Bottas could have done that no problem.) But Red Bull's strategy also depended on two other factors: No safety car messing things up. And having a driver as talented, brave, and smart as Max Verstappen.
Always pleased to see a good race, even if the finishing order isn't exactly what I was hoping for.
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