Hamilton: “Vettel did a great job once again”

Another podium on one step, the second, where Hamilton he is not used to being, at the conclusion of the Bahrain GP. Burnt leaving from Sebastian Vettel, the pilot Mercedes he was therefore the protagonist of a race in pursuit of the Red driver, after receiving a 5 second penalty for slowing down too much in the pit lane during the pit stop. But the Briton's fury was not enough to catch his rival Maranello, who now officially drives a single-seater with a wheelbase equal to that of the Brackley missile.

“It was certainly a busy weekend. The start wasn't bad but Sebastian was in a blind spot for me, so I couldn't see him, I didn't know if he was behind me or next to me,” explained the driver. Mercedes at the press conference. “Valtteri started well, I tried to stay behind him but I lost my position at that moment. It was really difficult to follow him because we have a very similar pace. And then it was totally my fault when the safety car came out: I should have had a gap of 5 seconds but it was 4, so I misjudged. Towards the end, however, it was great to see that I had a great pace. I honestly believed that I would be able to catch Sebastian, but with that 5 second penalty he made the race even more difficult."

“I have to apologize to the team but I will do my best to recover,” continued the three-time world champion. “We still brought home a good amount of points for the team, and then there's still this great fight with the Ferrari and with Sebastian who once again did a great job: his pace was also very fast."

Lewis then explained the tire choice in his final stint: “Actually the tires worked great, so I think it was the right choice. The team always makes great choices. I thought they would put me on the supersofts but in the end the softs turned out to be the best choice, especially because I had to push for 16 laps with a lot of margin to make up; I probably wouldn't have made it with the red compound,” he concluded Hamilton.