Jolyon Palmer: Hamilton's British GP win gives Bottas "a major blow"
F1 News
Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer believes the British Grand Prix was a key result in the fight for the 2019 Formula 1 world championship. As a result of the race win and the fastest lap bonus, Lewis Hamilton moves 39 points ahead of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas had better results compared to Hamilton in the build-up to the main event on Sunday. The Finn placed his Silver Arrow on pole after leading Hamilton in two of the three practice sessions.
Bottas managed to keep Hamilton in his mirrors until his pit-stop, letting the lead slip for just a couple of corners. The 29-year-old would have thought he was in control, and this is why Palmer believes it was "a major blow".
"For Bottas, it was a major blow. He has had a good season, all in all, but Hamilton is just proving too good, and it's hard to see a way back for Bottas from here. But the bad stat for Bottas is his conversion rate. Of those four poles, he has gone on to win only one race, in Azerbaijan, and even that was a struggle, initially holding on well from Hamilton in the opening corners, and then surviving a lot of late pressure from the Brit as well," Palmer said in his BBC column.
The passionate British supporters gave Hamilton that extra feel-good factor when he collected his sixth trophy at Silverstone. Palmer believes this sort of energy and momentum makes it even harder for Bottas.
"This sort of result should energise Hamilton, driving him on further in the next two races in Germany and Hungary before the summer break. By the time he leaves Budapest, a track where he has an incredible record, he could have one hand on his sixth world crown, which seems more and more inevitable with every passing race," Palmer added.