Before the race, no one at Mercedes would have dreamed of such a result. First and fourth place for the Silver Arrows. While George Russell unexpectedly won, Lewis Hamilton came fourth. Underbody damage and a five-second penalty held the record world champion back. But he is also dissatisfied with his own performance – over the entire weekend.
Hamilton avoids penalty and then gets it again
For Hamilton, this means twelve points won on the one hand, but in comparison, he also has 13 points less than his own team-mate. The “disaster” started right at the start of the race. Hamilton overtook Sainz off the track in turn one and suffered underbody damage. “He lost 2.5 tenths per lap,” explains Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
Hamilton had to give back the position he had gained against Sainz a few laps later, otherwise he would have faced a penalty. “Sainz and I touched in the first corner. That’s why I went far to the outside in the corner,” said Hamilton about the situation.
But Hamilton incurred the penalty he had initially avoided shortly before his first pit stop. At the pit entrance he slightly crossed the white line, which must not be crossed when entering the pit lane. The consequence: a 5-second penalty. “He was simply pushing very hard at the pit entrance, you could see that,” said Toto Wolff.
Hamilton shocked by Austrian weekend: Was too slow
However, Hamilton does not want to blame the poor result compared to Russell solely on the damage to his car and the penalty. “I was pretty bad this weekend, not because I didn’t try, I was just slow,” said Hamilton.
Nevertheless: “It was quite shocking, but I am very happy for the team, they really deserved this result,” said Hamilton, pleased for his team.
In just one week, Hamilton will have the chance to make amends. Formula 1 will travel to Great Britain for the conclusion of the current tripleheader. A home race for Lewis Hamilton and the team based in Brackley.