Hamilton praises his recent F1 performance and calls for clarity on Mercedes’ Spa tactics.
Lewis Hamilton clinched victory at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, marking the 105th win of his career, albeit under somewhat controversial circumstances.
The British driver was clearly not pleased to receive the winner’s trophy in such a manner, but believes the race could have concluded in “the right order,” according to him.
“It was a fantastic race. Of course, George did a splendid job. I’ll review the race, but yes, he made a tremendous effort to stick to the one-stop strategy. And frankly, it was rather straightforward,” Hamilton reflected.
“From my perspective, I was completely in control. I had plenty of pace and tyre life, and it didn’t end as expected. If you listened to me on the radio, you could hear what I was saying to the team most of the time. My tyres were quite good. I had plenty of tread left and was going faster. I didn’t want to stop and wanted to also make it on one stop.”
“And when I finally realised George was only making one stop, I pushed harder, but it was too late. We’ll need to discuss this because I ended up right behind him while still having a lot of potential tread left.”
Nobody expected Mercedes F1 to contend for the victory in Belgium after the dry free practice sessions on Friday. Hamilton admits he didn’t either!
“It was literally night and day between Friday and the race. Friday was quite disastrous for both of us, and we really struggled to find the balance. But then during the race, the car came alive, and I was genuinely surprised to take the lead and then pull away from everyone. Yes, as I said, I felt completely in control and hadn’t felt that way in years, which is why it was a slightly strange way to finish. But it’s great to go into the summer break like this. The team really deserved it and did an incredible job.”
This season has been fiercely competitive so far. We’re currently seeing three to four teams consistently battling for the win, reminiscent of the 2012 and 2010 seasons, which he, of course, experienced. So, how does he compare this season to those?
“I don’t have a great memory, so I don’t recall that time well. But what I can say is that it’s fantastic. It’s truly amazing, I think, that the sport has such closely matched teams and drivers. And, you know, the calibre of the drivers at the top today is really elite and incredible. Yes, we didn’t expect to be competing with McLaren or Red Bull at this stage of the season, given how we started. So, for us, the second half of the season is going to be quite the experience.”
- You may also like>Hamilton Addresses His 105th F1 Victory, Granted After Disqualification
- Following us on>Facebook and>Twitter
Hamilton Queries Mercedes Strategy After Spa Race Hamilton Queries Mercedes Strategy After Spa Race
