“I knew it was going to be a disastrous race as soon as this decision was made last night” : Lewis Hamilton disheartened after finishing ninth at Azerbaijan GP
Ever since the F1 season resumed after the summer break, Lewis Hamilton has finished in eighth, fifth, and now in ninth position in the recently concluded Azerbaijan GP. The German team’s resurgence this season has been put on a halt as they have been unable to meet their competition.
For Hamilton and co., the race seemed to already be a bust after he finished seventh in qualifying at the Baku City Circuit last Saturday. To make matters worse, the Briton had to start Sunday’s 51-lap race from pit lane after Mercedes decided to fit in a new engine, as he struggled to cover up the vast ground. If not for the crash between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez who were fighting for the third spot, the Briton would have finished outside the top 10.
Throughout the race, the Briton felt let down by his car yet again, and the communication in the team radio was tensed more often than not. Hamilton also complained about certain balance issues in the car which gave him a very hard time in the circuit.
“It was the worst balance I’ve probably ever had. Basically, I had so much front end but no rears I had to turn… it’s not the way you drive. I had to yank the steering to break the traction from the front and slide the front through every corner,” said the 39-year-old (via Crash.net).
“It’s the weirdest way I had to drive. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to overtake. It’s difficult to follow in the middle, but at least be close at the end. I don’t know why our pace was so bad on our side. It happens,” a disappointed Hamilton added.
Addressing the media after the race, the Briton revealed that they had a great car on Friday, but after making a few tweaks coming into Saturday led them the wrong way. He also already knew it was going to be a ‘tough day’ before the race, and that the engine penalty made matters even worse.
“I knew it was going to be a disastrous race as soon as this decision was made last night,” said the seven-time world champion (via Sky Sports).
“That was a horror race” : Mercedes boss sympathizes with Lewis Hamilton
Similarly, the Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff was not the happiest man after the race, but seeing the difficulties Hamilton had to overcome throughout the race, tried to be more comforting about the whole thing.
“Lewis, good to make it to the end, that was a horror race. I can so relate to it, we can all relate to it. At least we have taken the penalty now. Let’s move forward, look forward.” said Wolff (via PlanetF1.com).
In a race where the 39-year-old’s teammate George Russell finished at podium, these words were hardly comforting and were given the silent treatment. It was also revealed that Hamilton and Wolff were at odds for the power unit change, but it ultimately came down to the “team’s decision”, which the Mercedes boss tried to explain.
“We knew that it was going to be a race of misery because it’s so difficult to overtake in Baku. And that’s what it was. The moment you come closer, you overheat the tyres and then you go backwards and I think this is what happened to him. But lots to learn.” said the Austrian.
“There’s two different philosophies, and we discussed it at length. One, you just swallow the pill here, because starting from P7, we don’t know where that would have gone, and then doing it in Austin. But we feel that Austin is an opportunity, and so that was the decision. Right or wrong? I don’t know, it was a close call,” the 52-year-old added.
The AMG Petronas won three out of four races before the summer but have failed to find the same form till now. But Toto Wolff believes the new floor in the US Grand Prix, which comes right after Singapore, will improve their performances.
