Hamilton insists Azerbaijan GP drive PROVES one thing has never changed

Dan Davis
Monday 1 May 2023 18:48

Lewis Hamilton believes his impressive recovery drive at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after a safety car setback proved his "hunger is still there".

The seven-time world champion found himself running fifth during the early stages of the relatively uneventful showpiece but, alongside Max Verstappen, pitted just moments before the safety car was deployed after Nyck de Vries' crash.

As a result, much of the pack was able to seize the opportunity and dive in for quick stops, leaving Hamilton in 10th and clinging on to the points.

However, he wasted little time in showcasing his stellar ability once again after gaining three places at the restart, a period which also saw him pass Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

As the race unfolded, Hamilton later powered past Lance Stroll and looked to hunt down Carlos Sainz before eventually settling for sixth.

The Briton was not satisfied, though, and admitted the timing of the safety car was a "kick in the teeth".

Hamilton: The pace will come out

"Naturally, because so much work goes into the weekend and then yesterday was a difficult day where you went backwards, and then today I was hoping for a better day and I lost so many places, that's definitely a kick in the teeth," he said.

"But then I was like, 'well, it is what it is'. I think today shows that the hunger is there. And once I get that confidence in that car, the pace will come out."

Hamilton also opened up on his bid to move on from his disappointment at the restart.

"I couldn't get bogged down in that frustration and 'I've lost all those positions'," he added. "I just had to keep my head down and get focused on attacking, and that's what I did.

"I got my head down and got right back in the race. Yeah, I really enjoyed those battles.

"Really continuously proud of my team for just keeping their head down. We didn't have the pace that we had in the last race, which is obviously not the greatest. But there's no lack of motivation in this team.

"We're all super hungry, we're just working towards getting those upgrades. So I think this is the beginning of something hopefully better in the next coming races."

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