Lewis Hamilton says a decision not to pit in the closing laps showed he “learned his lesson” from China 2007.
The Briton played the conditions perfectly as he stormed to victory at the Turkish Grand Prix, a result that sees him tie Michael Schumacher as a seven-time world champion.
However, as one of only a few drivers not to pit for a second time for new intermediates, a threat of rain at the very end could have had the potential to undo Hamilton’s entire race, given the grooves on his tyres were essentially gone.
Ultimately it never came, but with a pit-stop advantage in his pocket, Lewis opposed Mercedes calling him in for a precautionary stop.
“Well you remember I lost a world championship in the pitlane,” Hamilton said referring to when he ended up in a gravel trap in Shanghai on very worn tyres. “So, I learned my lesson from 2007, that’s for sure.
“I felt like I really had it under control, and the grip was getting good and I was gonna deal with the rain if it dropped.”
Before then, it was the decision to stay out while others stopped again that put Hamilton in place for what had looked an unlikely win after the Racing Points ran off at the start.
And the Mercedes driver explained why he opted to buck the trend of many, despite the much faster times initially being set of new tyres.
“There was a point, obviously that Seb [Vettel] was pulling away from me,” Hamilton said. “And I couldn’t figure out at the time what it was, so I was checking my temperatures.
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“I didn’t know whether it was because my tyres were overheating or they’re too cold, but they got to a bit of a drier patch.
“I think I went through the real rough phase of the graining of the tyre and then it started to come back, the grip started coming back.
“The track was drying in areas and I was improving my driving lines the whole way through the race.
“So I started to pick up pace and then Seb pitted. For me, I knew that that wasn’t the right choice, personally.
“I just started to stay out and as the tyres got more and more slick, that’s exactly what you needed.
“Fortunately that intermediate tyre, it holds temperature. If I went out on new slicks, I wouldn’t have made it round but it was the best decision.”