After finishing behind Mercedes teammate George Russell in both the Austria Sprint Race and the main Grand Prix qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took stock of his day.
Lewis Hamilton, who performed better in the qualifying round in Spielberg, seemed dissatisfied with his circumstances.
The seven-time Formula 1 champion finished the short-form race in sixth place after qualifying sixth for the Sprint. In the last half of the practice, Hamilton managed to improve somewhat and set his grid position for the major Austrian Grand Prix. He finished fifth fastest.
However, things weren’t always easy going, and in the first heat, he realized that he needed to put in a great lap on his last run to lower the possibility of an embarrassing early exit. He succeeded in doing just that, but his remarks to the crew over the radio perfectly captured his feelings toward his Mercedes.
“We’re just slow, mate,” he said to Peter Bonnington, the race engineer. And when he looked back on the track action at the end of the day, he still appeared a little miffed about how his Saturday had gone.
“The Sprint was a little frustrating,” Hamilton remarked. Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari was within reach of me, but I was unable to truly challenge him. As a result, we modified the car after the Sprint, which was beneficial. We were able to advance because we were able to enhance its overall balance. Despite having a slightly poor middle sector, my last lap in Q3 was respectable. P5 was better than what we could do during Sprint Qualifying, so all in all, the day was passable.
READ ALSO: Lewis Hamilton humiliates Fernando Alonso months after Toto Wolff’s answer
“The modifications we made to the vehicle ought to benefit us in the race tomorrow. As a result, I think we’ll have a faster race pace than we did in the sprint today. If we want to compete for the podium, we will need to overcome the Sainz. See what we can accomplish.
George Russell, a teammate, qualified better for both races and placed higher in the Sprint. He was, of course, rather happier with the outcome and stated: “We can be happy with P3 and a second row start for the Grand Prix tomorrow. Given how hard the crew has worked to bring us recent updates, it is nice to see that the car is feeling terrific.
We are facing a serious conflict with individuals in our immediate vicinity, especially Ferrari. Although it appears that we are still lagging the McLarens and Verstappen, we are making progress. The fact that the team qualified in the top three for the third straight race is encouraging.”
Although Mercedes still has to improve, team principal Toto Wolff expressed his satisfaction and noted that the likes of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remain formidable opponents. Overall, it was a good day for us, but it also made clear what we still need in order to compete at the very end of the race. This was said by the Austrian.
Lewis and George gave excellent performances… Hopefully, we can maintain the good momentum as the Sprint revealed that the top four teams are very evenly matched and that a tenth of a second may make all the difference.
