Was the Formula 1 race in Baku a response to the critics who accuse Lewis Hamilton of having passed his prime as a racing driver? On paper, sixth place on the street circuit in Azerbaijan is not a spectacular result.
But Hamilton himself explains that the circumstances on Sunday were proof that “hunger [noch immer] there is.” Because after the record champion was initially unlucky with the safety car, he then impressively fought his way back through the field.
“It wasn’t ideal,” says Hamilton about the safety car phase from lap eleven. Background: Until his pit stop at the end of the ninth lap, Hamilton was fifth between Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
However, because the safety car came two laps later, his opponents were able to use it for their respective pit stops, so that Hamilton lost a whopping five positions and was only tenth. “It’s definitely a punch in the pit of the stomach,” he admits.
“But I wasn’t allowed to get into this frustration,” explains Hamilton. Instead, he immediately went on “attack” to regain the lost positions. Right in the first corner after the restart, he grabbed Nico Hülkenberg in the Haas.
Ferrari a little too fast on the straights
He also passed Esteban Ocon’s Alpine just after Turn 2, teammate George Russell was due a lap later and on Lap 19 he made a mistake to grab sixth from Lance Stroll. “I really enjoyed those fights,” Hamilton recalls.
But that was the end of his race to catch up. Although Hamilton also put pressure on Carlos Sainz, he was stuck behind the Ferrari until the end of the race. “They’re just a bit faster than us on the straights, I think,” said the record champion.
“Even with an open DRS [bei uns] he was fast on the straight,” he says of Sainz. “And it wasn’t that easy to follow through the middle sector. But I gave everything,” assures Hamilton, who in the meantime called for more power on the radio in order to somehow be able to overtake the Spaniard.
“A driver always wants more power,” he explains his radio message. Especially since the DRS zone on the home stretch, which has been shortened by 100 meters, made overtaking in Baku even more difficult this year. “If you turned on the DRS, it was already too late,” reports Hamilton.
Hamilton is waiting for the updates
So he couldn’t explain why the zone was shortened at all, because “great racing” had previously been had in Baku with the longer DRS zone. Ultimately, however, he can live well with sixth place and emphasizes: “I’m very proud of my team.”
“We didn’t have the pace of the last race [in Melbourne], which of course isn’t great. But there is no lack of motivation in this team. We’re all super hungry and just working to get those updates,” Hamilton said.
Because the new parts, with which Mercedes wants to really start the race to catch up with Red Bull, Hamilton and Russell will only get them in Imola as planned. The upcoming race in Miami will also be more of a transitional race.
But for the time afterwards, Hamilton announces that he will attack. “And once I have confidence in the car, the pace will set in,” he is certain. It shouldn’t fail because of him – at least when it comes to the impressions from Baku.