Lewis Hamilton's psychological process while complaining about tire life explained by Mercedes stablemate
Lewis Hamilton's complaints about tire life during races are part of his psychological process. That's the view of his Mercedes stablemate Esteban Gutierrez. The F1 legend has often been seen complaining about tires going off in races even though his lap times are perfectly fine and well within expectations.
One of the more recent examples of it was in Mexico, when Lewis Hamilton had to run a long stint of 30+ laps on medium tires while his primary rival Charles Leclerc was on hard tires with a projected longer tire life. During the race, there were a couple of instances where Lewis complained on the radio about tires not being good enough to go to the end.
To the surprise of everyone however, the driver was able to post the fastest lap of the race on the very last lap of the Grand Prix. Talking about Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes development driver Esteban Gutierrez said that the driver tends to do this as it is part of his psychological process. On the F1 Nation podcast, he said:
"Lewis is very strong in that kind of situation. I think he says some things to let it out of his system, it’s not necessarily meaning that’s what he believes, he’s just getting that out of his system. If I was in this position, it’s like a psychological process to try to increase or maximise your situation."
He added:
"And he’s done that a couple of times in his career where sometimes he makes an indication and then he does totally the opposite. And he’s like mega and doing the fastest laps and incredible stints and I think today was a good example of that.”
Lewis Hamilton thinks about every detail of race management
Talking about the F1 legend, Esteban Guiterrez felt that Lewis Hamilton thinks about every detail when it comes to race management. Whether it is tire management, temperature management, or engine management, the driver is on top of everything. He said:
“His tire management is great. Temperature management, engine temperature management, all of those variables. Lewis is thinking on every detail and and he’s really good at that.”
Lewis had a very impressive race in Mexico as he was able to make his way through the field from P6 to P2. The driver pulled off some impressive overtakes, including his move on Daniel Ricciardo earlier in the race and on Charles Leclerc after the red flag.