HAMILTON BACK IN THE GROOVE
Mercedes star powers to Styrian glory
Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to his Mercedes-benz team after taking a dominant win in the second Formula 1 race of the year, the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, on Sunday.
The Briton, who had qualified on pole by a staggering 1.2 seconds in a sodden session on Saturday, was untroubled away from the line. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull put up a fight initially, but the Dutchman was overhauled by Hamilton’s Merc team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages.
It marked Hamilton’s 85th win in Formula 1, meaning he is just six short of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 91. The victory vaulted Hamilton from fourth in the points table to second place. He is six adrift of Bottas heading into the Hungarian
Grand Prix this weekend.
Hamilton said: “A big thank you to my team. What a weird year but great to be back driving with this kind of performance. The team did a fantastic job, it was just for me to bring it home. I tried to get fastest lap but [I was] not going to get it with 40-lap-old mediums compared to someone with fresh tyres.”
Mclaren racer Lando Norris was once again a star, jumping to fifth place on the final lap as he overtook Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo and the ailing Sergio Perez, who was suffering with wing damage in the final throes of the race.
The event was a nadir for Ferrari. After its drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc had struggled in qualifying – Leclerc started
14th after a post-session penalty – things got worse for the Scuderia as the duo clashed at Turn 3 on the opening lap. It ultimately let to both cars retiring with damage.
Leclerc took full responsibility for the contact. He said: “I’ve done a very bad job today. I’ve let the team down. I can only be sorry, even though that it’s not enough. I hope I’ll learn from this and we come back stronger from the next races.”
Results
1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-benz) 1h22m50.683s; 2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedesbenz) +13.719s; 3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull-honda); 4 Alexander Albon (Red Bullhonda); 5 Lando Norris (Mclaren-renault); 6 Sergio Perez (Racing Point-mercedes); 7 Lance Stroll (Racing Point-mercedes); 8 Daniel Ricciardo (Renault); 9 Carlos Sainz (Mclarenrenault); 10 Daniil Kvyat (Alphatauri-honda). Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, July 19.