F1 News
Hamilton plays down Austria wake-up call
- Bevan Youl
Lewis Hamilton has played down the suggestion of the Austrian Grand Prix being a reminder of a championship challenge, insisting that Mercedes have been aware all season long.
Austria was the first race Mercedes lost this season after winning the first eight.
High temperatures and altitude played a part in cooling issues for the silver arrows leaving them unable to compete fully with Red Bull and Ferrari.
But Hamilton doesn’t feel that the result was a wake-up call for the team as they have been aware of a potential challenge throughout.
Hamilton said (quoted by GPFans): “I don’t think we needed a weekend like this to remind us.
“We’ve not been complacent at any of the races that we’ve had. It doesn’t do anything for us.
“We knew it would be a difficult weekend for us and it was probably more painful than we thought, but we haven’t been complacent at all.
“The guys have worked very hard and it was just one of those days.”
With both cars being affected by the high temperatures on track the Brit was unsure as to whether they would be affected in later race due to the same issues.
“I honestly have no idea,” Hamilton added.
“I haven’t asked the guys but we haven’t had any problems up until here so I don’t know what hot circuits we have coming up.
“We’ve got Budapest coming up but who knows at other places. I don’t think it will be in a lot of places but I’m sure they’ll be another one like that, like Mexico maybe.”