Hamilton: "Learned a lot about Verstappen today"
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- GPblog.com
The Spanish Grand Prix not only gave Lewis Hamilton 25 points for the world championship, but he was also able to learn a lot about his big title rival Max Verstappen. Hamilton says he has taken a good look at the RB16B and how the Dutchman uses it in the races.
"Well, I’m continuing to love this battle we are having. I didn’t know whether we would be able to follow them as closely as we did in the end," Hamilton kicked off at the press conference following his win at the Spanish GP. The Mercedes driver was able to stay close to Verstappen the whole time, without causing him much tyre wear.
At the start, the seven-time world champion lost a position, which meant he was actually in second position for about sixty laps. "Obviously, Turn 1, the start was not ideal and we are going to have to review it and see how we can do better in the future. But as soon as we got passed in Turn 1, I was like, ‘OK, switch into a different mode'. It was actually a really good day. I learned a lot about Max today, perhaps more than all the other races put together," he stated.
Hamilton has analysed Verstappen
So what exactly did the British driver learn about Verstappen Sunday afternoon in Barcelona? "Not particularly, no! It was just a good… When you are with people on track you get to see different things and watch closely and obviously I was following relatively closely and I learned a lot about his car and how he uses it, so it was a good race in that respect", Hamilton clarified his story.