French GP Undercut - Mercedes Error or Driver Performance?
The undercut that Max Verstappen pulled off on Lewis Hamilton during the French GP was crucial to the outcome of the race. Let's take a detailed look at how this transpired and whether this was a strategic blunder by Mercedes or if driver performance was the difference. People seem to be overlooking Hamilton's performance during this pitstop cycle. A rare error from Verstappen where he ran wide at the start of the French grand prix handed the lead to Hamilton and it seemed decisive. Overnight rain had washed away the rubber and the track was green, and this coupled with blustery conditions meant that Redbull with their low downforce setup struggled more than Mercedes who had a high downforce configuration. Hamilton running in clean air looked comfortable in the lead and gradually extended his advantage to 3.1 seconds before the first round of pitstops. Lack of grip caused by the green track meant that tire graining and degradation was considerably higher than expected. Bottas w...