Vasseur Says Hamilton Would Have Won Barcelona Without VSC After 3-Stop Charge
Updated
Updated · Motorsport.com · Jun 14
Vasseur Says Hamilton Would Have Won Barcelona Without VSC After 3-Stop Charge
3 articles · Updated · Motorsport.com · Jun 14
Summary
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur said Lewis Hamilton’s Barcelona win was not decided by the virtual safety car, arguing the Ferrari had enough pace to win even without that late break.
Hamilton’s 3-stop strategy put him on mediums on lap 27, and he cut a gap of more than 2 seconds to George Russell to 5 seconds in just 9 laps.
When Fernando Alonso stopped with a battery problem at Turn 9, Ferrari used the VSC to make Hamilton’s final stop; he still finished 19.5 seconds clear after rejoining ahead of Russell.
Mercedes’ hard-tyre pace and an intra-team fight between Russell and Kimi Antonelli helped Hamilton close, prompting Toto Wolff to say the team may need to re-calibrate how its drivers race each other.
Wolff also conceded Hamilton was the quickest of the front-runners at that stage, underscoring Ferrari’s emergence as a fresh threat in both the drivers’ and constructors’ title fights.