Formula One defending champion Lewis Hamilton has put the blame on Mercedes' poor tyre strategy and confusing radio communication for his failure to beat Sebastian Vettel and win the Malaysian Grand Prix. Hamilton had to settle for second place behind Ferrari's Vettel after winning the season opener in Australia.
Hamilton claimed that it felt like the race was lost at the first stop, insisting that they were a little bit quicker than Ferrari through some stints but claimed that it was too big a gap to close up, the BBC reported. Vettel, who started second, took the lead when Mercedes chose to call in Hamilton for a pit stop during an early safety car period, while Ferrari left the German out on track.
Mercedes preferred to do the majority of the race on the slower hard tyre, finding it had greater resilience on their car, but Vettel used the faster medium tyre for all but one stint and Hamilton was unable to get on terms.
Hamilton said that perhaps Mercedes didn't expect so many cars to stay out and there were a lot of cars to get back through after the pit stop, adding that when he put the prime tyre on it did not feel good, it felt better on the option, insisting that they went back on the prime at the end but it really was not good.
Hamilton's frustrations at being unable to close the gap on Vettel were clear to hear during the race, with the Briton making his feelings known on the Mercedes team radio. He said on lap 40 that he doesn't know what he was supposed to be doing, adding that Paddy Lowe, Mercedes technical director, says that he might be doing another stop.
Three laps later Hamilton snapped, saying that don't talk to him through the corners, adding that he almost went off.
Following the race, the Briton said that he remembers there were some conversations going on, adding that Lowe had pressed the wrong button and he could hear them yapping in his ear, insisting that he was asking if he was going to do another stop.
Hamilton claimed that he thought it was his last stop so it confused him, which was not helpful.
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