Formula 1 | Hamilton: Being able to watch the Red Bulls in Mexico is huge
Lewis Hamilton, who finished second in the Mexican Grand Prix, suffered from Max Verstappen’s law once again, as he did in Austin the previous week. So after the race, he fell a little bit.
The seven-time world champion was not disappointed because he had the right strategy, but on the other hand, he was very pleased to see Mercedes F1 progress so well at the end of the season.
“I’m very happy to be on the podium in the first place and to separate the two Red Bulls, I think it’s a very good result for us. We evolved in the previous race to reduce the gap, they are still there. It’s an advantage, but even so, in qualifying It was amazing to beat and finish second and third on the grid.”
“Talking about race strategy, I wanted us to take the risk of doing something different with the two cars. I had a feeling they (Red Bull) were going to start on the soft tires and once the heater covers came off, we saw that was the case for everyone in the media, except for us. .”
“At the time I thought we would have a problem, but the race was long and maybe they would make two stops. But the middle tire never came off. So I think in the end they had the right strategy, but I” I’m grateful to be able to keep up in the first stage. It’s great to be able to keep up with Red Bull.”
“Strategically, it was difficult against two”
Would Hamilton have preferred to ride his mids longer to match the soft ones in the second half of the race? Not necessarily in hindsight.
“I was telling the team that my tires were good, but Sergio had just stopped. So I guess they were going faster than me at that point. So if we’d been on track longer, I’d have been behind Sergio and it was over.”
“Unfortunately, at the beginning of the race there was a good battle in turns 1 and 2, but my team-mate passed Sergio, so I was alone against two Red Bulls. It’s very difficult to talk strategically with only one car. Sergio was able to catch me. and approach, which clearly hampered our strategy.’
We saw Red Bull ask Verstappen to make sure Hamilton wasn’t too close to what he wanted at the start of the race, and the Brit regretted his poor rubber choice that kept him from making contact.
“I think the problem at the start was the difference between the tires, the soft was naturally faster. It was amazing how well he kept it. I was driving on my side but I saw they had the top. I was getting a bit closer at the end and I was hoping to get back into the fight, but after putting on the hard tire we ran out of luck.”
W13 has ‘never been more competitive’ this season
Still no win for Hamilton and Mercedes F1 in 2022, but there’s no need to be too sorry as Red Bull remained the fastest this weekend.
“I think they could have taken the lead in the end anyway, they stay a bit quicker. We’ve never been that close to them, but with the same tire we could have lost a couple of tenths a lap. They’re fast in the race. Don’t waste time on the straights and corners. I I was in his dream and it was difficult to stay there, so they have more than us.”
“But we’re getting closer and closer. If we’d started on the softs, maybe the gap would have been the same in the first stage. We could have tried to hit the bottom, but it’s always easy to say that in hindsight. However, I’m grateful for the progress made and now we’re fighting Red Bull.” .
“There are so many positives to take from the weekend, the car has never been more competitive this year. It’s a result of the incredible work done by all these men and women at the factory. They don’t give up. It’s a show of grit and determination.”
“And I’m very happy to be back in the fight. We were already close to our chance to win the previous race. I don’t know how much the car will be worth in the next races, but I hope that something special will happen in Brazil. We’ll see.”
