Despondent Lewis Hamilton admits ‘not much has changed since the last race’ after disappointing 10th place finish in Saudi Arabia… and Mercedes ace says his team ‘have a lot of work to do’
- Lewis Hamilton salvaged a third place in the season opener in Bahrain
- But the Mercedes ace struggled throughout the weekend in Saudi Arabia
- Max Verstappen passed Charles Leclerc with four laps to go to win on Sunday
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished a lowly 10th place after struggling throughout the weekend in Saudi Arabia.
Hamilton, who started only 15th following one of the worst qualifying performances of his career, made good progress through the field to move up to 10th by the start of lap 14, and then seventh when Mercedes kept him out on old rubber following Nicholas Latifi’s lap-17 crash and the first safety car.
That became sixth when he made his way ahead of Kevin Magnussen.
Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes ‘have a lot of work to do’ after 10th place finish in Saudi Arabia
Mercedes were banking on further drama to afford Hamilton a free pit stop.
But, when the virtual safety car arrived with 14 laps to run, Hamilton was denied a stop for fresh rubber, with Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo stuttering to a halt on the entry to the pit lane.
When the virtual safety car period ended on lap 41 and the pit lane reopened, Hamilton was allowed to stop, but he fell back six places to 12th before passing Alexander Albon and then Lance Stroll to take the final point.
The seven-time world champion finished 10th in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Hamilton had salvaged a surprise third place in the season opener in Bahrain despite ‘car troubles’ after Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were forced to retire late on.
‘Not much has changed really since the last race. It’s only been a few days,’ Lewis Hamilton said after his P10 finish.
‘What I know is that today, I couldn’t keep up with the Haas at the end. The power they have, they came slingshotting past me when I overtook Magnussen earlier on in the race.
Max Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc to win the Saudi Arabian GP after an epic battle
‘We’ve got a lot of work to do for sure but I know we’ve got a great team and we’ll just keep our heads down and try to improve.’
Verstappen passed Charles Leclerc with four laps to go to win Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Forty-eight hours after a nearby missile strike threatened to cancel the second round of the new Formula One season, Verstappen claimed the first victory of his title defence following a thrilling battle with Leclerc which went to the wire.
Verstappen crossed the line only half-a-second ahead of Leclerc, with Carlos Sainz third and pole-sitter Sergio Perez fourth.
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