Lewis Hamilton closed the Spanish weekend with an excellent third place, managing to confirm the result obtained in qualifying. The Mercedes driver says he is happy not only with the race, but with the weekend in general, which materializes the efforts of the Brackley team made above all to improve the pit stops.
Despite the joy of returning to the podium after 12 Grands Prix, Hamilton is self-critical about his departure, which leaves a bad taste in his mouth:
“Like Lando, I also had a very bad start, we lost ground compared to the Ferraris so it was a battle to get back to the position I’m in now. I don’t know if with a better start we could have kept the pace of those in front of us, but not I think we would have been as far away as we were upon arrival.”
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
After not the best start, the Mercedes driver also claimed to have lost power in the initial stages of the race, saying he was satisfied with having then managed to move up the rankings. One of the battles that ignited the Spanish Grand Prix was certainly the one between the seven-time world champion and the home driver Carlos Sainz, which saw the two come into contact in turn 1, but without consequences for both. Hamilton commented on the episode thus:
“All the overtakings were very close but that’s how it should be, we collided with the wheels a bit but everything was correct, to the limit. Not even a piece of paper passed between us. He left the door open, we were the wheel close behind and I left him as much space as I could.”
What made the difference in the Briton’s race was the choice of tyres: Hamilton mounted Soft tires during the second stop, unlike his teammate George Russell, who opted for Hard tyres.
“The strategy of putting on the soft at the end was in the plan from the beginning, I never had the option of putting on the hard tires today, I had chosen the race with Soft – Medium – Soft”.
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