Started 22nd, finished 3rd: Lewis Hamilton’s "super bonus" scenario at Spa!

Discreet during the first two days of competition, Lewis Hamilton’s weekend had so far turned into a bad Belgian joke. Somewhat undermined by all these bad news, he even imagined in an interview on Sunday morning not being able to finish the race. Quite the irony for a driver who had strung together 4 consecutive victories in the last 4 races!

Fortunately for him, there were these 44 laps of the Grand Prix to save the day and finally show the full potential of his Mercedes, completely revamped on the power unit side.

Starting from the back row alongside another former world champion, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton was initially favored by the chaos of the first lap. Rising to 15th place, the Englishman began his series of overtakes and even benefited from Magnussen’s crash to climb to an unexpected fifth place when the red flag was waved on the 10th lap. His luck continued with a tire change made possible by the race interruption. On the restart, it only took the Kemmel straight for him to use the DRS to overtake Fernando Alonso. By the 18th lap, Hamilton passed the valiant Nico Hülkenberg to reach the provisional podium of the race, less than 10 seconds behind leader Nico Rosberg.

Euphoric, the holder of the “Hammertime” even considered aiming higher than his third position:

Of course I thought about winning the race today! But on the other hand, I was also aware that the gap (on Rosberg) was too big. I could not threaten him, even when I passed the Force India (Hülkenberg’s, for third place then). From then on, I focused on bringing home the largest total of points possible.

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But it was then that the ex-McLaren driver encountered some tire pressure problems, hindering him in his duel against Ricciardo.

I had already used these tires well, so I knew how difficult it was for me to pass a car. Besides, I lost time behind Hülkenberg. But anyway, I think the gap was too big for Ricciardo.

« If my tires had been in better condition, I could have pushed harder and closed the gap, which I was unable to do: I even had to stop a third time! » (on the 33rd lap to be exact).

Beyond the third place, the good news of his weekend is of course his new engine potential. Taking advantage of a loophole in the regulations, the owner of number 44 was able to stock up on new parts by accumulating penalties for this race. But 40, 50, or 60 grid penalties, it didn’t matter: the last place on the grid awaited him no matter what! Now, Hamilton even has one more engine in reserve than Rosberg for the end of the season!

« Coming here knowing my problems, having a race as clear as this one, losing only 10 points and having an extra engine available compared to others for the end of the season, all of this is a great bonus for me! I will be able to fight in the last eight races. »

On Toto Wolff’s side, enthusiasm was present in front of the journalists:

« I am delighted for Lewis. For sure, he benefited from the chaos of the first corner and the decision of some drivers to pit under the Safety Car. But we were on an aggressive three-stop strategy, which ensured he could attack. Against Ricciardo, trying something different was the only way to beat him, which wasn’t possible. However, Lewis deserves this spot on the podium. In the last stint, we played it safe with medium tires. We got out of a tricky situation at the beginning of the weekend to ultimately deliver such a performance. Kudos again to the whole team for this comeback after the summer break! »

The stage is well and truly set: will the next Italian Grand Prix in Monza mark Lewis Hamilton’s return to center stage, overshadowing Nico Rosberg in the process? Wait and see…

21st to 3rd! Thank you to the team for all their hard work this weekend!! @MercedesAMGF1 photo by @suttonimages pic.twitter.com/P7rKvhRgA2

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 28 août 2016