A late pit stop at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix solidified Lewis Hamilton in third place in a race the Brit deemed ‘bad from the get-go’.
Hamilton qualified third for his home race, with hopes of delivering the British fans a tenth victory around the icnoic silverstone circuit. However, these hopes slipped away as the Brit struggled for pace from lights out.
He received a five-second penalty early on for having a false start, which was only the start of his Grand Prix woes.
Hamilton bemoaned the incident to the media, including Motorsport Week, in the press conference after the race. He said when asked about the race and the start specifically.
“It was not that great” he said.
“Charles did a major job today and fully deserves the win. From my side, pretty bad from the get-go. My jump start, which I have done very few times in the 380-odd races that I’ve done.”
“My hand just moved, just like that. I don’t really know where I went; I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t even tell my hand to do it.”
Balance issues
When asked why he struggled so much with the SF-26, with which he took his first victory in red in Barcelona, the Briton explained that he had struggled with the balance of his car.
“Balance-wise, I noticed Charles went up on his balance, I think, in the qualifying.
“I felt the car was really oversteering with the diff settings we had, which took me out. I had the biggest understeer at the beginning of the race, so he just pulled away from me; I just couldn’t turn the car.”
“So until halfway through that first stint, I managed to start turning the car a little bit better with some diff changes.” He said, “But by then the gap was already huge, and then the last second at the stop, it was just one thing after the other.”
As the race went on, Hamilton dropped back from the top two and fell into the charging Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
However, Verstappen’s threat was short-lived when he spun into the gravel. The incident was a double-edged sword for Hamilton. It took away the threat of a podium place for the Ferrari driver, but it also brought out the safety car, which cost him second place.
Pit stop decisions
Ferrari opted to pit both drivers to cover off the risk under a Safety Car restart. This worked well for Charles Leclerc, who maintained his lead, but Hamilton lost a place to George Russell in the pit lane.
Then, as the race ended under a Safety Car, the Briton lost his opportunity to recover the place, leaving him visibly frustrated as he came home third.
In the press conference, Hamilton was asked if he believed he should’ve stayed out. Ignoring the calls from the pit wall. However, the seven-time world champions retorted, “What difference is there?”
Hamilton lost three championship points, which could end up being vital in a title fight that gets closer each round, and the place he earned on track.
“I mean, the team asked me to stop.” He continued to explain, “I assumed that in stopping, we would hold position. If they had told me to stop, I would have been losing position; I wouldn’t have done it.”
Going into the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton still sits third in the drivers’ championship, 32 points behind Kimi Antonelli and just 7 points behind Russell in second. A far closer gap than just a few rounds ago.
So, although Hamilton may be unhappy with the performance he put in around Silverstone, his hopes of taking an eighth title are getting closer with every issue from Kimi Antonelli’s garage.
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