A safety car that could have cost Lewis Hamilton the victory
The safety car deployed after the contact between the Force India cars worried Lewis Hamilton because he couldn't properly warm up his soft tires, while Sebastian Vettel on ultra-soft tires knew he had an advantage.
Close throughout the race, Hamilton and Vettel engaged in a relentless psychological duel. Both were focused on one thing: not making the slightest mistake to stay in the fight. Daniel Ricciardo had only one thing in mind at the restart, to seize his chance to pass Valtteri Bottas, which he successfully did.
The Briton won the 58th victory of his career and is happy with his race « It was a lot of fun racing against Sebastian (Vettel), every lap was enjoyable. It’s a good way to restart the season for me. Ferrari had good race pace and Sebastian was very close to me on the restart. I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes because he would have taken advantage of it. It was a very good feeling. »
Still under 2 seconds but never close enough to attack, the German knew that the restart would be his chance. We had a good pace but it was difficult for me to follow Lewis (Hamilton) in the second sector. The good thing is that we have improved our pace since Silverstone, which is satisfying. I was waiting for a mistake from Lewis, I didn’t make any, but neither did he. After the safety car, I knew I would have the advantage with the ultra-softs. At the restart (going up towards Blanchimont) I was too close to him and couldn’t launch ideally.
Always showing up where least expected, the Australian seized his chance to step onto the podium again this Sunday. “We never arrive feeling very optimistic, but in the end, things work out well for us and for me. We struggled in the first stint with the ultra-softs; it was better in the second. With Kimi’s (Räikkönen) penalty, I managed to move up to 4th, which allowed me to be behind Bottas on the restart. I was fully focused on Valtteri (Bottas), but I knew Kimi Räikkönen was coming as well. I left space on the inside at the braking and as we entered the corner (Les Combes), I thought Kimi might also want to dive inside if he could.”
With joy, Lewis Hamilton also shows a certain relief because the difference in tires between him and Vettel behind the safety car was a source of concern. « I was worried during the safety car period. I was struggling because the tire temperature was too low, I was on hards (the hardest tire) which wasn’t good because Sebastian was on a softer set, so easier to warm up. »
From our special correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps
