Lewis Hamilton admits he was concerned that Nico Rosberg might have an advantage on fuel consumption as the Canadian GP played out.
There was extensive radio talk about consumption between the pit wall and the drivers during the race, and Hamilton was told to lift and coast, in other words lift off the throttle early, in order to save fuel. In the end it had no impact on the result, and he was able to get home safely in front.
“I think because Nico was in my tow he was able to save more fuel,” he said. “Naturally when you’re behind someone you use less fuel. And for me, I thought I had saved enough but I needed to save some more, so through that period I was just fuel saving.
“I was managing the gap within a second, but I was saving a lot of fuel, and then once I’d saved enough, I was able to get on it a little bit more. But I only really needed to answer to the lap times Nico would do. If I could do a tenth or two faster, that would be fine. So that’s what I tried to do – just tried to manage it and bring the car home safely.
“At the end I had fuel. I think the team just wanted us to come home. I knew I had plenty of fuel at the end. There was a point where – I think about 15 laps from the end – I had enough fuel to make it to the end, even if I pushed flat out so that was good.”
Lewis said he didn't see the win as any kind of relief after the Monaco disappointment.
“Not particularly. I don’t feel I needed to be relieved. I was quickest all of the previous race weekend as well. Obviously we had the problem which enabled Nico to win the race but otherwise, generally I had good pace for the last two races so it’s not a relief, it just feels good to continue with good strength and it’s great that the team is continuing to be strong as well and continue to move forwards. That’s probably the most impressive thing.”
While the Mercedes team juggled the fuel question, there was also an issue with brake wear for Rosberg.
In the end Rosberg had the greater problem and that hampered any chance he might have had of pushing Hamilton harder.
“It is a circuit that as you know that is very heavy on the brakes,” said team boss Toto Wolff. “And it is a balance and a fine line which we want to keep – between not interfering in the racing between the two drivers and let them fight it out, and on the other side trying to make sure that the car survives.
“At a certain stage we had more than 30 seconds of gap to Bottas; we had a high brake temperatures and we were a bit marginal on fuel and we discussed how to keep all those key parameters under control and this was a bit of a tense situation but I wouldn't say it was more tense than other races.
“Brakes were always an issue and we wanted to help to manage the brakes so the two of them could race each other 10 laps to the end, and we gave them the call that brakes were looking okay.”
Meanwhile, Wolff admitted that he didn't see the best of Ferrari in Canada.
“I think we must not underestimate the upgrade they have brought because we have seen a very strong pace on the Friday. Maybe these bits have made them onto the car or not in the mapping they would have wanted to run. My assumption without really knowing it is we haven't seen the best of Ferrari today.
“Sebastian had a very difficult Saturday and started from the very back. He had a messy race with a shunt with Hulkenberg, he ran into backmarker traffic. And Kimi obviously spun and that does not make a two-stop work. So let's not underestimate them. I think they will bounce back strong in Austria.”
Wolff said that a straightforward one-two for the team was a welcome outcome after the fallout from the last race.
“I must say that after Monaco it was very difficult for the team to handle that. It was difficult to handle it sometimes, we were exposed to massive criticisms. It looked like all the victories and the world championships were forgotten and suddenly a bunch of idiots were managing the team.”
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