Hamilton: Niki would’ve taken his hat off for that

LEWIS Hamilton converted strategic br i l l ia nce i nto a n ex hi la rat i ng v ictor y for Mercedes in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Pri x and said it was a t riumph t hat would have delighted t he late Niki Lauda.

Seven days after leav ing Germany wit h a sore t hroat after his worst performance for the team, the championship leader bounced back to his best.

“Hats off to the team,” said Hamilton after the 81st win of his career and his record seventh in Hungary. “I think that if Niki was here now he would take his hat off.”

The former non-executive chairman of the Mercedes team Lauda always wore a scar-covering red baseball cap that he would doff to the team whenever they achieved a great success.

On Sunday, Hamilton was in second place behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull who, apart from few laps around the pitstops, led from his maiden pole position until the final three laps.

But with 20 laps remaining, Mercedes made a key strategic decision.

So ragged and overwhelmed at Hockenheim just a week earlier, Hamilton and Mercedes made a gamble when they pitted unexpectedly for a second time leaving the defending five-time champion to charge down a 20 seconds deficit on fresher and faster mediumcompound tyres.

“Honestly, we’d had brake problems all weekend and I was a bit worried,” said Hamilton after a stirring triumph that has lifted 62 points clear of teammate Valtteri Bottas in the championship with Verstappen third.

“I was actually doing a lot of coasting and not touching the brake for half the lap. I was just trying to save as much as I could.

“It was very difficult to get by. Their defence was great. They’re quite quick on the straights. I honestly didn’t know if I could catch that 19-second gap, as it’s big.

“But, like the team said, ‘just get your head down and keep pushing’, which I did.”

Hamilton was f ull of praise for his team.

A week on from their rain-swept and desultory exit from a near-disastrous German Grand Prix, they had clearly responded with a smart strategy, slick tactics and pitstops.

“I feel really grateful for the day and for the team who continue to believe in me. To take a risk, to take a chance on me,” said a clearly emotional Hamilton, having responded to days of speculation that Verstappen was poised to take over as the leading driver in the sport.

“We’ve been together seven years and it never gets old. It feels like a new win for us all.”