I honestly think you guys are getting too bored and chasing ghosts.

It made sense for Merc to have Hamilton pit 7-8 laps before the end of the race because no one knew how the hard tyres would last, and Silverstone is notable for tyre degradation with all its very high-speed corners. At that time of the race, Lewis had a gap to Bottas large enough to make a pitstop and still come out in front, so it was a sensible thing to do. He refused to, so they pitted Bottas first.

Keep in mind that before the race, Bottas didn't think a one-stop was possible, and apparently neither did McLaren either, as they wrecked Norris' race by failing to pit him under the SC as they didn't think that their cars could get to the checkered flag with one single stop. Hindsight is 20/20, but the teams didn't really know how well the hard tyres would last until the race was over.