Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes driver bids to recover from ‘shocking’
Lewis Hamilton heads to Silverstone and his home British Grand Prix – a venue where has won more often than any other driver – aiming to put the disappointment of what he termed a “shocking” weekend in Austria swiftly behind him.
George Russell ended Mercedes’ 33-race victory drought at the Red Bull Ring last Sunday after being in prime position to profit from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ late collision while disputing the lead of the race, but Hamilton finished three places back in fourth after trailing the sister car for pace throughout the Sprint weekend.
Hamilton’s grand prix, which saw him collect a five-second penalty for crossing the white line on his entry to his first pit stop, was compromised by damage sustained to his car’s floor early on – but the seven-time champion made no excuses for his showing afterwards.
“Pretty shocking,” Hamilton admitted to Sky Sports F1.
“But really happy for the team. Everyone in the factory has worked so hard this year to get a result like this so big congratulations to the team and George. Well deserved.”
Asked what the reason was for his “shocking” race, Hamilton simply replied: “Me. Just been pretty sh.. all weekend.
“It’s not for the lack of trying but just generally slow.”
‘We are going to win a race with him this year’
Hamilton’s underwhelming Austrian weekend – when he was outqualified by Russell for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix before finishing behind his countryman in both races – came just a week after his season had appeared to turn a corner when he drove a stirring race to third at Barcelona, claiming his first podium of 2024.
Hamilton heads to Silverstone 9-2 down to Russell in Grand Prix qualifying so far this, while the latter’s second career win in Austria increased the younger Briton’s advantage in the championship over his team-mate to 26 points.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ team principal, believes Hamilton will work through this difficult period of form and predicted “we are going to win a race with him this year” before the seven-time champion departs for Ferrari.
“He has a bad spell and, as a racing driver, it can be mind crashing if you feel that you are not able to deliver your best performances,” Wolff told Ted Kravitz.
“He needs to go through this. This is not a situation that suddenly he has unlearned driving, on the contrary, things have come together.
