Lewis Hamilton’s remarkable final lap performance during the Mexican Grand Prix has stirred curiosity and speculation in the Formula 1 community. The seven-time world champion delivered a blistering final lap that left F1 commentator Peter Windsor pondering its significance, particularly in the context of his race strategy.
Hamilton, who faced disappointment with only the second disqualification of his career in the United States Grand Prix due to a technical breach, rebounded strongly in Mexico. Starting from sixth on the grid, he put on an impressive display to secure a second-place finish behind Max Verstappen’s dominant Red Bull.
What caught the attention of many was Hamilton’s electrifying final lap, in which he clocked a lap time of 1:21.334, surpassing Verstappen’s previous fastest lap on Lap 40 by three-tenths of a second. This late surge allowed Hamilton to claim the bonus point for the fastest lap in the race.
Peter Windsor, a former title-winning team manager with Williams, was intrigued by Hamilton’s late burst of speed and the timing of this achievement. In his YouTube race roundup, Windsor mused about the unexpected acceleration.
Windsor stated, “Lewis set the fastest lap, and that will have irritated Max a bit because he always loves to set the fastest lap, and at that point, he had it – and Lewis set it on the last lap.”
While this performance brought smiles to the faces in the Mercedes garage, Windsor found it somewhat unusual, considering Hamilton’s relatively conservative pace throughout the race.
He remarked, “This is Lewis looking after the tires and going a little bit slower than Max virtually everywhere, apart from one lap – and on the last lap, he does a 1:21.3!”
Windsor acknowledged that it’s common for drivers to pace themselves and preserve their tires during a race. However, he was curious about the dramatic change in speed on the final lap.
He noted, “It’s a cliché to say: ‘Well, where did that come from?’ – but it has to be asked because I suppose you would say in the debrief afterward when it’s all quiet: ‘21.3, Lewis! What were you doing [for the rest of the race]?'”
Windsor suggested that Hamilton’s ability to post such a fast lap on worn tires could be attributed to his meticulous tire management in the preceding laps. However, it raised questions about how much faster he could have raced earlier in the race.
He posed an intriguing hypothetical scenario, saying, “if Lewis had known that the tires were going to last to the point where he could do a 1:21.3 on the last lap, how much quicker would he have driven – how much more would he have pushed the tires – over the previous 12 laps?”
Despite the unanswered questions, Windsor acknowledged the unique dynamics of the race, where Verstappen had no chance to respond to Hamilton’s late surge since it occurred on the final lap.
Hamilton finished the Mexican Grand Prix in second place, nearly 14 seconds behind Verstappen. He clinched the fastest lap accolade, and there were no post-race issues in the parc ferme.
With only three races remaining in the 2023 season, Hamilton is closing in on his second consecutive winless year. This contrasts with his previous 15 years in Formula 1, during which he secured at least one victory each season. His last win occurred at the penultimate round of the 2021 season in Saudi Arabia, just seven days before he was dethroned by Verstappen in a highly controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.