Hamilton: It’s too difficult to follow a car closely these days
Unable to overtake his teammate on the track, Lewis Hamilton ultimately overused his tire resources to hope for an attack at the end of the race. Nico Rosberg therefore perfectly managed his pole position to secure an uncontested victory this Sunday in Brazil.
It was another ideal weekend for Nico Rosberg. After his Mexican performance, the German driver once again outclassed his teammate both on Saturday and Sunday. “It was a very pleasant weekend. I am very, very happy,” he stated on the podium.
« Everything went perfectly. Lewis gave me a bit of a hard time, but I managed the situation well. I controlled the pace of the race without making a single mistake. I knew that Lewis might have degradation issues in the second stint. Managing the tires well was the key » he assured, with a delighted expression, to Martin Brundle, the interviewer of the day.
Lewis Hamilton at times closed to within five-tenths of Nico Rosberg but was never able to launch an attack. On the contrary, by staying within the range of his teammate, he tended to overuse his tire reserves and had to let go towards the end of the race, even seeing Sebastian Vettel catch up to a few seconds behind him in the final laps.
The Englishman did not hide his frustration on the Interlagos podium: « I had a good pace, but I couldn’t overtake him. I was stuck behind Nico and was destroying my tires behind him. It’s a shame not to be able to make more overtakes here because it’s a great track. It’s too difficult to follow a car closely these days ».
