Lewis Hamilton needed more laps in Charles Leclerc fight

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton needed more laps in Leclerc fight

'Usually 44's my lucky number!'

Matthew Scott

Sunday 1 September 2019 16:56

Make us your Google favorite

Lewis Hamilton lamented running out of laps in his hunt of Charles Leclerc, who just hung on to secure victory at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished 0.981 seconds behind Leclerc at Spa-Francorchamps as the Ferrari man hung on to claim his maiden race win in F1.

As Leclerc's tyres began to wear, memories of him missing out on wins in Bahrain and Austria after taking pole came flooding back, and Hamilton began chewing plenty of time out of the 21-year-old.

Article continues under video

But the Mercedes man never had a chance to attack Leclerc, as he might have done had the race ran over a few more than the 44 laps.

"I gave it absolutely everything. We had a great crowd today, I think more people than we've ever had here," Hamilton said.

"The Ferraris were just too fast on the straight and it was very very hard to keep up with them.

"I got as close as I could at the end, maybe a few more laps. 44 is usually my lucky number but maybe we needed a few more!

"Nonetheless, congratulations to Charles, he's had it coming all year and I'm really happy for him."

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Angry Toto Wolff punches computer screen as Mercedes plan goes wrong at F1 Italian Grand Prix

10 minutes ago

F1 Race Today: How to watch the 2026 Italian Grand Prix live and FREE

52 minutes ago

F1 legend Lewis Hamilton criticises Ferrari AGAIN at Italian Grand Prix - 'pretty bad'

1 hour ago

FIA confirm 35-place grid penalty for Red Bull F1 star at Italian Grand Prix

2 hours ago

Amended F1 2026 Italian Grand Prix starting grid with late penalties applied

3 hours ago

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton rival hit with penalty as Toto Wolff blames Max Verstappen