{"id":32639,"date":"2025-07-30T04:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/32639\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T04:42:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:42:10","slug":"how-hamilton-changed-his-mind-about-crucial-spa-pit-stop-%c2%b7-racefans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/32639\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hamilton changed his mind about crucial Spa pit stop \u00b7 RaceFans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lewis Hamilton<\/a> gained six places with a perfectly-timed pit stop in the rain at Spa. But he initially resisted his team\u2019s call to pit.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo way,\u201d replied Hamilton when his race engineer Ricardo Adami asked him whether he thought the track was ready for slicks early on lap 11.<\/p>\n

But as Hamilton continued around the rapidly-drying seven-kilometre Spa-Francorchamps<\/a>, he began to think the track might be ready after all. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m down to try if you want,\u201d he eventually told Adami, before heading in.<\/p>\n

The decision proved to be a masterstroke. Hamilton was the first driver to switch to slicks and on his out-lap he immediately went almost four seconds faster through the middle sector.<\/p>\n

Almost every other driver headed for the pits on the next lap. Hamilton jumped ahead of five drivers he had been chasing, then passed Liam Lawson<\/a> who emerged from the pits ahead of him.<\/p>\n

That put Hamilton into seventh place. With few further passes possible over the remainder of the race, the tactical move he initially resisted had paid off massively. Here\u2019s how he and Adami made the call.<\/p>\n

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Hamilton\u2019s radio messages from around his pit stop<\/p>\n

Hamilton managed to pass several drivers during the opening laps when the track was at its wettest.<\/p>\n

Lap: 8\/44 HAM: 2\u201901.599<\/p>\n

Adami
\nHamilton passes Colapinto
Well done Lewis. Hulkenberg next car ahead, one second.<\/p>\n

Lap: 9\/44 HAM: 2\u201904.389<\/p>\n

Adami
\nHamilton passes Hulkenberg
That\u2019s P14, good job. Gasly next.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nHamilton passes Gasly at Stavelot
That\u2019s awesome, Lewis. Bearman ahead, three seconds, about track conditions when you can.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nTyre\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nCool.<\/p>\n

Lap: 10\/44 HAM: 2\u201903.457<\/p>\n

Adami
\nWettest part of the track is turn five, you can manage in 10 and 15 for tyres.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nSwitch red, switch red. And pull back the entry of five, five metres. We are in the rear overheating phase.<\/p>\n

After initially rejecting Adami\u2019s suggestion he switch to slicks, Hamilton reconsidered as he passed through the middle part of the lap:<\/p>\n

Lap: 11\/44 HAM: 2\u201910.597<\/p>\n

Adami
\nKemmel straight
You think to stop for slicks now, new medium?<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nNo way.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nCopy.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nExit of Les Combes
It\u2019s not far, some places, but it\u2019ll be very [unclear] slick.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nUnderstood. Let\u2019s [unclear] those cars ahead.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nApproaching Pouhon
Very close, for sure.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nApproaching Fagnes
I\u2019m down to try if you want.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nCopy.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nThese tyres are dropping off.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nBox, Lewis, box.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nYeah, probably go to medium though.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nYeah, medium.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nI\u2019ve got a little too much front wing.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nHamilton pits
Tyre back at position three. Drop shallow.<\/p>\n

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Once he rejoined the track, Hamilton asked for an update on his position, and discovered how well the gamble had paid off:<\/p>\n

Lap: 12\/44 HAM: 2\u201912.214<\/p>\n

Adami
\nCaution pit exit is wet. Also five, six. Tyre position three, all clear ahead and behind. Hulkenberg three seconds behind, also on medium.<\/p>\n

Adami
\nEverybody is boxing ahead.<\/p>\n

Lap: 13\/44 HAM: 1\u201951.050<\/p>\n

Adami
\nRacing cars ahead. Lawson ahead, two seconds.
Hamilton passes Lawson on the Kemmel straight<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nGap ahead?<\/p>\n

Adami
\nSix seconds.<\/p>\n

Hamilton
\nPosition?<\/p>\n

Adami
\nWe are on P7 on the road. You are the fastest man on track. Group of cars ahead, three and a half, racing for position.<\/p>\n

After the race Hamilton told his team: \u201cGreat job with the strategy and pit stop.\u201d Adami replied: \u201cHey, you made it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2025 Belgian Grand Prix
\nBrowse all 2025 Belgian Grand Prix articles<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton gained six places with a perfectly-timed pit stop in the rain at Spa. But he initially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[12703,1687,372,6537,832,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-32639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-2025-belgian-grand-prix","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula1","12":"tag-lewis-hamilton","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}