formula 1
Hamilton’s small victory: At least Verstappen overtaken once
Could at least celebrate a moral victory in Melbourne: Lewis Hamilton (l). photo
© Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AP
Mercedes shows increasing form in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton is happy about second place in Melbourne. The relationship with his car remains difficult.
Formula 1 record world champion Lewis Hamilton was able to celebrate a small victory in Melbourne. “At least I was able to overtake Max,” said the Brit after his second place in the Australian Grand Prix behind Red Bull star Max Verstappen and grinned.
Shortly after the start of what ended up being a chaotic race, the 38-year-old passed the world champion, who was 13 years his junior, and later even briefly led. But even second place felt almost like a triumph in the still stubborn Mercedes. “It was very unexpected,” said veteran Hamilton before leaving Down Under.
Hamilton didn’t want to know anything about a trend reversal after the third round of the season. “I don’t feel any connection to the car yet, I still feel uncomfortable,” said Hamilton: “I drive as best I can in this situation.” However, the 103-time Grand Prix winner is not giving up hope that things will get even better as the season progresses. “We can close the gap. It’s a long way, but not impossible,” said Hamilton.
But Red Bull is far ahead and under normal circumstances is in a league of its own. The 25-year-old Dutchman Verstappen quickly passed Hamilton again early in the race and celebrated his first success in Melbourne without any problems. “We’ve taken a step forward,” said Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff anyway.
Russell’s stern burst into flames
However, the loss of Hamilton’s teammate George Russell weighed bitterly. The Brit had to park his Silver Arrow early after the rear burst into flames. The 25-year-old had surprisingly secured second place in qualifying and was leading the race in the meantime. “George was really unlucky. We have to take a closer look at it, because reliability is generally very good with us,” said Hamilton.
Meanwhile, Wolff was surprised at the huge improvements compared to the first Grands Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, Mercedes will stick to its plans to put a retreaded car on the road as soon as possible. There is still time for this, because due to the cancellation of the race in China due to the Corona situation, the next Grand Prix will not take place in Baku until the last weekend in April.