Hamilton satisfied with P2 finish in Mexico: ‘I wasn’t expecting that’
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton was joyful after his result at the Mexico City Grand Prix, which can also be heard even during the race from his messages over the team radio. The seven-time world champion explained his performance and talked about his chances of finishing in P2 in the Drivers’ Standings.
"Honestly, I was, I just wasn't expecting that today. And it's just always a great feeling when you're putting one foot in front of the other and just progressing. The weekend had been really difficult compared to the last race where we just kind of hit the road, hit the ground running. This weekend was really, really digging deep to try and get the setup right," Hamilton explained his race to Sky Sports.
"I think we did a great job. Then qualifying was a little bit tricky. We seemed to be far behind the Ferraris. We needed to finish ahead of them to keep the constructors. So that's what I was pushing for today. So to progress so well throughout the early phase of the race and then be challenging for a podium and then second place, it's amazing. I am pretty happy with the race," he concluded.
More pace left in Mercedes
Later on during the press conference, Hamilton also underlined that he could have been faster over the race distance in Mexico, but there was no point in chasing down Verstappen. "I could have pushed a little bit harder, but I did at one time try to see, I was like, okay, I think I've saved enough. Let me see if I can try and close this gap to Max. I think it was like 10 laps to go and I did a 22.0 and Max did a 21.9. I was like, I'll leave it. He was just cruising at 21.9! So yeah, so I thought I'd leave it there."
He continued: "And also I had to be just careful because obviously my tyres, if I really pushed them for the last 10 laps, they probably would have opened up, and who knows, maybe Charles would have caught me up, so I just had to be cautious of that."
On fighting for P2 in the Championship
On the possibility of finishing in second place in the drivers’ standings, Hamilton said: "It's mostly dependent on Checo’s weekends really. They have the championship winning car, so I mean he's just been unfortunate I think in some scenarios. Obviously I've lost quite a lot of points in the last two races, but he lost points today, so it swings in roundabouts."
Hamilton added: "I think coming into the weekend having lost the points last week I didn't think I would really be in shooting range particularly, but after today, we'll just give it our best shot. Honestly, it's not going to make a big difference to my life whether I come second or third. It's more important to get the team second and the constructors, so that's what I'm focused on. But it's a bonus if we get second and the drivers."