Lewis Hamilton showed he enjoyed the Formula 1 Australian GP. This Sunday (8), narrowly missing out on a podium, the seven-time champion highlighted the fun race, but admitted he would like to know why Ferrari didn’t pit either car during the first virtual safety car period.
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In Melbourne, the Briton made a stellar start, jumping from seventh to fourth place – his teammate Charles Leclerc also made a jump to first position.
Then, in the early part of the race, the duo stayed in podium positions, but after a first VSC, most of the front-runners pitted and the duo stayed on track. This ended up costing them later and, in the end, the Monegasque finished third and Charles fourth.
Despite what happened, Hamilton praised the race and how much he enjoyed driving, saying the result was indeed positive.
“There are no mixed feelings, I’m feeling great. It was a really great race. From 7th to 4th. I think the team did a great job overall and the car was fantastic,” he said after the race
“Obviously, we are not where we would like to be in terms of pace compared to Mercedes, but… I think there are many positives to consider.”
However, Hamilton admitted he wanted to investigate why neither car pitted during the Virtual Safety Car, adding his goals for Ferrari and his pleasure in driving the new cars.
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“I don’t have mixed feelings about it. As I said, we achieved 3rd and 4th place. I think, at the end of the day, the Mercedes cars were faster than us, and that’s probably the only position that matters,” he reinforced.
“The only result is that we were going to get, at most, 3rd place again today. We will definitely analyze the situation and see if, you know, pitting would have been better. I definitely thought, when I saw two Mercedes coming, one in front of me and one behind, that we should have stopped, or at least one of us should have stopped to cover the car. We’ll take a look and see what we have there,” he said
“Yes, I mean, we’re going to keep pushing, and we need to bring updates and keep developing, something I know the team is working hard on to ensure we analyze and see where we’re losing out,” he continued.
“It seems like we’re losing on the straight, because I think we’re as good as them with the cars, but we need to see. They have an advantage in straight-line speed, and that’s something we need to figure out. But I have no doubt that we can do it,” he reinforced.
“Personally, I loved it. I thought the race was very fun to drive. I thought the car was very, very fun to drive. I watched the cars ahead, there was a good battle. So, yes. So far, so good. It’s been a good experience,” he concluded.
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