Lewis Hamilton did not win the British Grand Prix – and extremely cross about it he was a short time later, as well – yet in some ways the outcome was a triumph for him, given what may have been. He even said as much, a while later, too.
When Hamilton was clouted into a turn by Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari at the third corner, following an awful begin by the Mercedes driver, the evening was looking disheartening.
His title match Sebastian Vettel was in the number one spot, and Hamilton was at the back once he had moved once more. The German’s tight one-point advantage in the title was undermining to transform into a gap.
However, Hamilton – roused, he stated, by his venerating Silverstone fans – start recouping, and a surprising drive it was, even given the colossal execution advantage the Mercedes has over any car outside the best six.
He added: “All I’d say is that it’s now two races that the Ferraris have taken out one of the Mercedes, and a five-second penalty and a 10-second penalty doesn’t appear to feel… ultimately it spoils the race.
“It’s a lot of points that ultimately Valtteri and I have lost in those two scenarios. And, of course, it is a race situation.
“I couldn’t see behind me but we’ve just got to work hard to try to position ourselves better so that we are not exposed to the red cars – because who knows when that’s going to happen again?
“We’ve got to make sure that we work hard together as a team to try to lock-out the front row and make sure that we’re fully ahead of these guys.”
By lap 10, he was up to 6th. A late-race security car allowed Mercedes to toss the system dice. Hamilton jumped up to third when every other person halted for new tires and he didn’t, and afterward second after a forceful suring proceed onward partner Valtteri Bottas. The Briton heads to the following race in having held Vettel’s leverage down to only eight focuses.
“Winning a home great prix is dependably an exceptional thing,” he stated, once the red fogs of the immediate post-race outrage and adrenaline had died down, “yet in some ways I have a feeling that I won today since I originated from last.”
