Dennis: Strategy switch paid dividends
McLaren chief Ron Dennis has claimed that his team's decision to switch David Coulthard to a two-stop strategy was the catalyst for Michael Schumacher's puncture near the end of the German Grand Prix
McLaren, like most other teams, had planned to run its cars on a three-stop strategy, but switched Coulthard to a two - with a longer middle stint than his Renault and Ferrari rivals - which should have leapfrogged him ahead of them.
Renault and Ferrari reacted by switching all their drivers to two-stop strategies, and they suffered serious tyre wear issues as a result. Schumacher suffered a left-rear puncture late in the race, which dropped him from second to seventh and promoted Coulthard, running the harder compound Michelin tyre, to the runner-up spot.
"We outfoxed them a bit by switching to a two-stop strategy earlier than they did," said Dennis. "We knew the Renault and Ferrari would suffer with their rear tyre wear rates, we knew they would be right on the limit."
Speaking on the subject of Schumacher's puncture, Dennis added: "We pushed them into a high-risk strategy. It happened in practice - it's a marginal tyre - and they took a gamble that didn't pay off."
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