Lewis Hamilton fell two seconds short of winning the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, but still had a good feeling about the race in Austin. The Mercedes driver sees that his team is taking steps in the right direction.
“We probably should have stopped before Lando,” said 38-year-old Hamilton in the paddock of the Circuit of the Americas. “I don’t know why we didn’t do that. That put me seven seconds behind and then another seven seconds later.”
“That was difficult to make up for, but the car has taken a step forward. We still have to improve in a few areas, the pit stops were not great and the strategy was probably not optimal either.”
Hamilton closed a gap to Verstappen in the final phase, but ultimately fell just short of keeping the Dutchman from his fiftieth Grand Prix victory. Lando Norris completed the podium in third place.
Summary: Verstappen takes fiftieth victory at the United States GP
‘Last year in Brazil we suddenly won’
Although Hamilton is optimistic, the Briton tempers expectations. “Last year in Brazil we suddenly won and by the end of the year we were closer,” he continued.
“But I have not been as optimistic as I am now all season. We are working very hard, everyone is tiptoeing to make everything work better. I firmly believe that we are going in the right direction.”
Hamilton still has four Grands Prix to record his first victory of the year. Formula 1 races in Mexico next week and after that there are Grands Prix in Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi on the program.
The post first appeared on www.nu.nl