Second just two seconds behind the winner. Like last year, the United States Grand Prix represents the stage of dreams and regrets for Lewis Hamilton. Also this season the Briton came close to triumph, cherished as a wish which, however, did not materialise. So close but also so far from a victory that he has been chasing for almost two years now.
After losing third position to Carlos Sainz, who was good at overtaking his Mercedes rival after a good sprint when the traffic lights went out, Hamilton began his comeback, overtaking the two Ferraris in sequence. The overtaking on Charles Leclerc came on the seventh lap thanks to the use of DRS on the long straight, and from that moment the focus shifted entirely to trying to close the gap to Lando Norris and keeping an incoming Max Verstappen under control. comeback.
In the first stint Mercedes decided to delay the stop by a few laps compared to its rivals, an aspect which allowed the Dutchman from Red Bull to complete the undercut, but also the McLaren driver to extend and recover a few seconds. On the part of the Stessa team, in fact, the idea was to create an offset in terms of tire life to try to extract the maximum from the tires in the last stint, when Hamilton would have mounted the second set of mediums, which it also proved to be the most effective compound on Sunday in the United States.
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19
Despite the Briton’s doubts in the central stint, the fact that Norris had two sets of hard gear helped Mercedes complete the overtaking at the end, even if the dream was to try to close the gap to fight for the victory. At the end of the race, the seven-time world champion underlined the excellent work of his Red Bull rivals, but he didn’t even hide a hint of regret because, with a few more laps, the hope was to at least try to undermine Verstappen .
“First of all we have to congratulate the boys [Red Bull]. This team did an incredible job all year, they dominated and Max was truly flawless. Towards the end we were catching them, I was confident, but we needed more laps. The team did an amazing job this weekend. He worked hard to bring this update here.”
“And honestly it was very difficult after the last race, first of all with everything that is going on in the world. And then, of course, the big mistake I made. I felt like I let the team down. So I had to go through a really profound process to get back here. And it was again one of those experiences where it doesn’t matter how you lose, but how you get back up. So I arrived fighting, I felt good and I’m really happy with this result”, added the Star driver referring to what happened in Qatar a few weeks ago, when a contact with his teammate put him out of action at the end of the first tour.
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Lots of applause could also be heard on the podium for the British champion, who has a special relationship with the United States: “I have always loved the United States, ever since I was eight years old and I came here, first to Albuquerque, then to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where I can’t wait to go racing. But you know, I’ve always felt welcome here. The people were so welcoming and I got to work with many great companies. It’s a pretty progressive country. And I’m very grateful for the support we have.”
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