Lights Out: Hamilton's limit, Haas hit back

Lights Out: Hamilton's limit, Haas hit back

Originally written by Joas van Wingerden. This version is a translation.

Saturday 31 March 2018 10:00

You wouldn't have known it if you looked at him finishing five seconds behind Sebastian Vettel, but Lewis Hamilton pushed his Mercedes to its limits at the Australian Grand Prix. But will that cause headaches for later races? It's lights out for Saturday morning!

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Hamilton's pursuit of Vettel would ultimately fall short, despite the champion's vow that he was "going for it".

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And despite Hamilton backing off significantly, he still ran through enough dirty air to push his engine to the limits of its temperatures.

A driver who was unable to find the limits was Max Verstappen, who instead cruised around behind the McLaren of Fernando Alonso, finding it impossible to make a pass.

The Dutchman said he would have turned off the race if he were watching at home. Good job, the Bahrain and Chinese grands prix whet the Verstappen appetite a little better, then.

Although their faulty wheel nuts caused a double DNF, Haas have still caught the attention of their rivals, having displayed impressive pace up until the midway point of last week's race.

Amid accusations that their 2018 challenger is a "replica" of Ferrari's 2017 car, Guenther Steiner has once again stood up for his squad.

McLaren have been among the naysayers of Haas, but they will hope that planned upgrades in Bahrain make the American side an afterthought.

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