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DPA
Imola (Italy)
No driver has won more Formula One races than Lewis Hamilton so the joy of the Briton at fighting back from a rare error to claim second in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix highlights both the size and importance of the achievement.
The 18 championship points gained for second - plus one extra for fastest lap - kept Hamilton fractionally ahead of race winner Max Verstappen in the early title standings.
“I started first, should have been first at the finish but these things are sent to test us and we’ve got a great battle on our hands,” said Hamilton. “Game on.”
Hamilton’s difficult day started when Verstappen’s Red Bull made a flying start and appeared to nudge him in an early overtake, damaging the front wing of the Mercedes.
But Hamilton showed tremendous pace – more than the car seemingly had three weeks ago at the Bahrain season-opener – before he spun into the gravel and resumed in ninth.
“Without doubt, getting back to second and getting these points today will be very valuable through the season,” said Hamilton.
“If I’d lost 25 points today, it would have been very hard to recover, based on the fact that Red Bull – it’s the first time they’ve had a championship-winning car in a long time and their car was incredibly fast this weekend.”
Mercedes have dominated the hybrid engine era with seven consecutive championships and will try to squeeze more from their car by the Portugal-Spain double-header on May 2 and 9.
Red Bull, however, seem to have found the right combination early and Verstappen won at a canter, though he played down the margin of victory.
“I wouldn’t call it a dominant performance as Lewis was following me quite well and for him to come back to second after his incident means they have a lot of pace in that car,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to Portimao because it’s an amazing track and then we go to a track we all know well in Barcelona. We’ll see what we can do but so far, it’s been a good start to the year.”
Verstappen is a point behind Hamilton in what looks like a head-to-head duel for the championship. His Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez outqualified him to start second to the Dutchman’s third but eventually finished out of the points in 11th.
Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes meanwhile failed to even finish after a crash with the Williams of George Russell – a contender for his seat next season.
The pair had an angry exchange of views on the track though stewards eventually deemed it to be a racing incident.
However, the performance of both drivers is likely to earn them a severe ticking off in their respective debriefs this week.
“Unfortunately, the crash between George and Valtteri was unnecessary,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“Valtteri had a difficult first 30 laps and shouldn’t have been there but George should have never launched into this manoeuvre considering that the track was drying up.
It meant taking risks and the other car is a Mercedes in front of him and in any drivers’ development as a young driver you must never lose this global perspective. Lots to learn for him I guess.”
Imola (Italy)
No driver has won more Formula One races than Lewis Hamilton so the joy of the Briton at fighting back from a rare error to claim second in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix highlights both the size and importance of the achievement.
The 18 championship points gained for second - plus one extra for fastest lap - kept Hamilton fractionally ahead of race winner Max Verstappen in the early title standings.
“I started first, should have been first at the finish but these things are sent to test us and we’ve got a great battle on our hands,” said Hamilton. “Game on.”
Hamilton’s difficult day started when Verstappen’s Red Bull made a flying start and appeared to nudge him in an early overtake, damaging the front wing of the Mercedes.
But Hamilton showed tremendous pace – more than the car seemingly had three weeks ago at the Bahrain season-opener – before he spun into the gravel and resumed in ninth.
“Without doubt, getting back to second and getting these points today will be very valuable through the season,” said Hamilton.
“If I’d lost 25 points today, it would have been very hard to recover, based on the fact that Red Bull – it’s the first time they’ve had a championship-winning car in a long time and their car was incredibly fast this weekend.”
Mercedes have dominated the hybrid engine era with seven consecutive championships and will try to squeeze more from their car by the Portugal-Spain double-header on May 2 and 9.
Red Bull, however, seem to have found the right combination early and Verstappen won at a canter, though he played down the margin of victory.
“I wouldn’t call it a dominant performance as Lewis was following me quite well and for him to come back to second after his incident means they have a lot of pace in that car,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to Portimao because it’s an amazing track and then we go to a track we all know well in Barcelona. We’ll see what we can do but so far, it’s been a good start to the year.”
Verstappen is a point behind Hamilton in what looks like a head-to-head duel for the championship. His Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez outqualified him to start second to the Dutchman’s third but eventually finished out of the points in 11th.
Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes meanwhile failed to even finish after a crash with the Williams of George Russell – a contender for his seat next season.
The pair had an angry exchange of views on the track though stewards eventually deemed it to be a racing incident.
However, the performance of both drivers is likely to earn them a severe ticking off in their respective debriefs this week.
“Unfortunately, the crash between George and Valtteri was unnecessary,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“Valtteri had a difficult first 30 laps and shouldn’t have been there but George should have never launched into this manoeuvre considering that the track was drying up.
It meant taking risks and the other car is a Mercedes in front of him and in any drivers’ development as a young driver you must never lose this global perspective. Lots to learn for him I guess.”
