São Paulo Grand Prix – Hamilton: “I didn’t think I was going to win”

After being excluded from qualifying on Friday, Lewis Hamilton staged a remarkable comeback in the sprint race and emerged victorious on the Interlagos circuit, starting from 10th place on the grid.

Logo Mi mini
Rédigé par Par

The exclusion of the seven-time world champion from the qualifications (for non-compliant DRS) worried many observers yesterday, who saw Max Verstappen easily win on Sunday and pull away towards a first match point as soon as the Qatar Grand Prix next week. However, this did not happen in the end.

After climbing from last to 5th place at the end of the 24 laps of the sprint race on Saturday, Lewis Hamilton started from 10th place due to an engine change penalty. In the end, he managed to prevail after a fierce battle with the Dutchman, and extends the fight against the Red Bull driver.

« The last time I had a weekend like this was in Formula 3 in Bahrain (in 2004, editor’s note): McLaren had terminated my contract and I remember that I was driving for my life that weekend. I had damaged my floor (in qualifying, editor’s note) and I had started 22nd and last for the pre-final. Then in the pre-final, I had climbed up to 10th place and then I won the final. My father reminded me of this the other day, telling me “don’t worry, let it go and move forward” and that’s what I did.

« I really didn’t think I was going to win – of course, it’s always my goal – but it’s really huge. I feel good in my body and mentally. I think Brazilian fans really made a huge difference this weekend, and I’m very grateful for it. »

« It has really been a tough weekend. When we found out that we would have a penalty for an engine change, we knew we would start at least 5 places back, and then disqualification in qualifying (for the sprint race, editor’s note) was a disaster for the whole team. But the mechanics and engineers all remained focused on doing their job, and I thank them very much, as well as the people working at the factory.

Regarding the incident with Max Verstappen on the 48th lap: « When they (the stewards) indicated that they were going to investigate the incident, I already suspected the decision they would make, whether it was good or bad. I didn’t let this incident disturb me and continued to race. I think it’s a racing incident.

Lewis Hamilton leaves with a 14-point deficit to the Dutchman and still has a chance of winning an 8th title.

Votre commentaire

Vous recevrez un e-mail de vérification pour publier votre commentaire.

Haut
Motorsinside English
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.