Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) praised Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) as a far more “sensible” driver than Max Verstappen (Red Bull) after the final battle at the F1 British Grand Prix.
Anyone who remembers the race at Silverstone Circuit a year ago took a breather on Hamilton and Leclerc’s side-by-side on lap 48’s high-speed Cops (Turn 9). Let’s go.
At the 2021 Grand Prix, Hamilton and Verstappen, who are in a fierce battle for the title, meet in copse. There was an incident where the Red Bull RB16B was blown to the tire barrier. Verstappen, who was shocked by 51G, was taken to the hospital.
Steward penalized Hamilton for 10 seconds for entering the corner “slightly behind Verstappen” and “running a line that did not reach Apex”, but moved up to the top with two laps remaining. He grabbed the victory.
Leclerc and Hamilton hung on the podium and headed side by side to the high-speed copse, as if to recreate that time. Hamilton was on the inside as it was 12 months ago, but unlike at that time, it did not swell outward and caught Apex, and Leclerc decided to osotogari from the outside.
“Charles’ work was great. He’s a really sensible driver. It was clearly different from what I experienced last year,” Hamilton said in an interview with Sky Sports after the podium in 3rd place.
“For example, in Cops, we both passed without any problems. What a battle. It was a really, really great weekend.”
After retreating in the copse, Hamilton overtook Leclerc on a hangar straight and finished third. However, he thought he could reach the championship at one point.
“A lot of things worked against us. We were up to 3rd at the start, but (at the time of the restart) we were backed up to 5th,” Hamilton recalled.
“I was separated by Lando Norris, and when I thought I had overtaken it over many laps, the difference with Ferrari had reached 5 or 6 seconds. I was catching up with a good time, and I was able to do a long stint with a good feeling. So I was thinking, “I might be able to fight for the championship.”
“But unfortunately the gap was too big, the pit stop didn’t work very well, and at the end I had a hard time warming up and lost to the two cars. It was really tough today.”