SILVERSTONE, U.K. — Mercedes will not adopt a cautious approach to race strategy at the British Grand Prix despite its strategy error in Austria, according to team boss Toto Wolff.
Mercedes endured one of its worst weekends of the V6 turbo era at the Red Bull Ring, with both cars retiring from the race. Lewis Hamilton’s car failure occurred having already lost the lead due to an error from chief strategist James Vowles, who came over the radio during the race to apologise to the reigning world champion. Wolff publicly defended Vowles in the immediate aftermath.
Hamilton has a chance to reclaim the lead of the championship at Silverstone, where he starts from a record sixth pole position on Sunday afternoon, while teammate Valtteri Bottas starts from behind the two Ferraris in fourth.
When asked if the team planned to split strategies, Wolff said: “We will be going full attack tomorrow. Part of that could well be two different strategies and trying to be aggressive.”
Wolff is also mindful of the extreme tyre blistering several drivers suffered in Austria. Although there Pirelli has brought thinner tyres to the race, and different compounds, Wolff says last weekend’s example is a reminder of how important it is to keep a lead through the pit-stop window.
“[Track position is] very important. You can see that with Red Bull the car that was in the lead, Max in Austria was managing his pace and had no problems with the tyres, and the other car — the same car — attacking and trying to make it past Kimi [Raikkonen] had heavy blistering on an identical car. Everything is easier if you control the pace from the front.”
Track position seems doubly significant at Silverstone, where Hamilton is looking to claim a fifth consecutive win at his home race — and sixth overall.
“If we can stay in the lead, Lewis in Silverstone is a force. Obviously if you get overtaken at the start or on the first lap then the whole thing becomes trickier.”