Lewis Hamilton has high ambitions for the Dutch GP. The British driver hopes to challenge McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the front of the grid. He also has a clear idea of how Ferrari can best approach this: by adopting two different strategies for Charles Leclerc and himself.
Lewis Hamilton was down in the dumps during the Grand Prix weekend in Hungary, but he feels much better after the summer break. The Brit made it to Q3 in Zandvoort on Saturday during the qualifiers, and will start the race in seventh place. Hamilton will start the main event behind teammate Charles Leclerc, and the Brit hopes his team will seize this opportunity to outmaneuver McLaren strategically.
Ferrari is the only team, apart from McLaren, where both drivers have a starting position in the top ten. “I think it’s smart to split the strategies, given our goal to beat McLaren,” Hamilton said after qualifying in Zandvoort. “It’s definitely an advantage if both drivers start side by side. Hopefully, we can use this to our advantage when deciding on an overcut or undercut.”
Variation with Leclerc
The Scuderia, with two starting positions in the top ten, has made a significant turnaround compared to the first free practice on Friday. Both Ferrari drivers were then 1.6 seconds slower than Lando Norris’s fastest time. Hamilton reveals that only Leclerc made adjustments to his car’s setup. “I’ve tried to adopt his setup several times this year, but it never worked out well,” concludes Hamilton.
