Lewis Hamilton seemed to be aiming for a subtle dig in the direction of Max Verstappen after securing a notable podium at the British Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. The Mercedes driver managed to cross the finish line in third place after a titanic battle with Charles Leclerc at the end of a very chaotic 52-lap competition.
Hamilton struggled with his teeth and nails with Leclerc through Silverstone’s twists and turns and even faced wheel-to-wheel with the Ferrari driver in Copse’s infamous bend. The 37-year-old gave credit to Leclerc for driving cautiously before making a subtle reference to last year’s high-speed crash with Verstappen, which took place on the same part of the track and gave as as a result of Hamilton getting a 10- second penalty.
“For a while it seemed long to me,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 as he executed the rule on procedures after the end of the race.
“A lot of things went against me. The distance was five or six seconds to catch the Ferraris, but I had a very good stage and I thought maybe we could fight for the victory, but the pit stop didn’t go. be very fast and I struggled to warm up [the new tyres].
THIS: British Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton claims an impressive podium
“Charles did a great job, what a great battle. A very sensible pilot, clearly very different from what we experienced here last year. [with Verstappen].
“We had to have a tire deficit to overcome it, but yes. A really amazing weekend.”
This year’s result at Silverstone only marked Hamilton’s second podium of the campaign, with Mercedes having struggled to keep up with their Constructors ’Championship rivals throughout the season so far. He will desperately wait for the Silver Arrows to maintain their newly found positive momentum when F1 returns to Austria next weekend to compete for another good final in Spielberg.
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“We’re still recovering, we still have work to do,” Hamilton added when asked where Mercedes was after impressing at Silverstone.
“Many thanks to the team for all the improvements this weekend, but we have to keep working hard and stay positive. It’s great to be back in the fight.”
Carlos Sainz finally took the checkered flag to secure his first Grand Prix victory ahead of Sergio Pérez and Hamilton, with a terrifying first-round crash involving George Russell, Alex Albon and Guanyu Zhou, which resulted in a long period of red flag at the start of the race. . The latter, who turned upside down before slipping on the gravel and into the barriers, needed help to get out of the cabin and was rushed to the medical center for precautionary checks before being discharged by luck afterwards. to be declared fit.
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