Sunday: Hamilton finishes on the podium, Rosberg just short for Mercedes
At the end of a Formula 1 Grand Prix full of twists and turns, Lewis Hamilton finishes 3rd in Hungary just ahead of Nico Rosberg. Both men engaged in a great battle on the track and enjoyed it. Rosberg, however, had hoped for more starting from pole position.
Lewis Hamilton (No. 44) – 3rd
The Briton is delighted with his race at the Hungaroring even though it wasn’t easy: « It’s a superb result today; I pushed as hard as possible to finish as high as possible. It was obviously about limiting the damage after what happened yesterday. I can’t express the pain I feel when we have problems like those in the last races; it’s hard to swallow and it’s difficult to come back the next day and find the balance between not pushing too hard, but being on the limit. The two safety car interventions helped a lot, but naturally I seemed fast and had a good pace this weekend, so there was an opportunity for more points. »
Hamilton did not understand his team’s requests to let Rosberg pass and believes he was in the right: « I was in the same race as Nico and if I let him pass, he would have had the opportunity to escape, and then he could come back and overtake me. I didn’t understand why the team asked me to do that because he couldn’t get close enough to overtake and I didn’t want to slow down and lose ground on Fernando. »
The native of Stevenage was delighted with his race finish and the fact of still being in the running for the title: I’d like to congratulate Daniel and Fernando. It was very close at the end, and it was difficult to keep Nico behind me because he was closing in by 3 seconds a lap. This comeback shows how good the car is, as well as the team, and this result is even more satisfying than an easy victory. As we head into the break, I’m still fighting for the championship, which is very satisfying.
Nico Rosberg (No. 6) – 4th
The poleman did not expect such a race and lost big during the first intervention of the safety car: « It was a disappointing afternoon. Several things did not work for me, and it was a race with ups and downs. At the beginning, everything was under control. Unfortunately, the safety car cost me the lead because I missed the pit entry and then couldn’t stop. I also had brake issues after the safety car came back in and had a hard time managing it, which cost me a few positions. »
He finished better but it wasn’t enough to end up on the podium and he wants to understand why: « Then I was able to attack. I had a good last stint and at the end there was a chance to overtake Lewis on the last lap, but it didn’t work out. So it’s really disappointing. We need to get together and analyze what went wrong today. I’m still leading the championship, which is positive, and I’ll be ready to attack again after the summer break. »
