"He made the restart far too early"- Lewis Hamilton 'himself to blame for a rookie mistake' at 2022 Dutch GP, says F1 pundit

F1 pundit Michael Schmidt claims that Lewis Hamilton made a rookie mistake at the restart after the second virtual safety car at the Dutch Grand Prix. The mistake allowed the potential race win to slip right through his fingers. The Briton blamed the team for putting him on medium compound tires instead of softs. However, Schmidt is of the opinion that Hamilton made the restart "far too early." This allowed Max Verstappen, who was running second at the time, to benefit from the Mercedes' slipstream and take the lead in the race once again.

Schmidt added that the seven-time world champion incorrectly flipped the switch used for the engine mode, depriving him of the needed power to fend off the Dutchman.

As reported by PlanetF1, Schmidt said:

“In fact, Hamilton has himself to blame for a rookie mistake that wasn’t even officially discussed. He made the restart far too early, giving Verstappen the perfect chance to get out of his slipstream. Worse still, Hamilton flipped the engine mode switch the wrong way, stealing the power he needed to defend himself. This isn’t the first time this has happened to him.”

“Russell was visibly surprised by his teammate’s early start. Just then, he took a little distance from the Red Bull in front of him. If the Mercedes drivers had cornered Verstappen at the green light, it would have been more difficult for the Dutch superstar to regain the lead immediately. Hamilton could have blocked the way for Russell.”

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Mercedes reveal why Lewis Hamilton was put on medium tires at the Dutch GP

Lewis Hamilton was absolutely livid towards the end of the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix last weekend. Instead of fighting for the win, the Briton struggled to keep his position against George Russell and Charles Leclerc. Russell and Leclerc were on soft tires while the seven-time world champion was driving with mediums.

As reported by BBC, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, however, explained why the team decided to put Lewis Hamilton on mediums.

"The thinking was we had a medium that had five racing laps on it and the track position, and we took that decision. I don't think on a par with the same tyre we could have overtaken the Red Bull with their straight-line speed. We saw that with [Ferrari's Carlos] Sainz at the beginning, who had less pace, we weren't able to pass him. So that was the call."

Lewis Hamilton not only missed out on the race win, but a podium-place finish, ending the race with a disappointing fourth-place result. He currently stands sixth in the drivers' standings with 158 points to his name.