Hamilton - Final Bahrain GP laps were "horrifying"
Hamilton - Final Bahrain GP laps were "horrifying"
Lewis Hamilton has described the final laps of his Bahrain Grand Prix victory as "horrifying" after the Mercedes driver came under attack from Max Verstappen.
After reeling in Hamilton on hard tyres that were 11 laps fresher than his Mercedes rival, Verstappen passed the seven-time champion for the lead on lap 53 of 56.
The Red Bull driver, however, was ruled to have exceeded track limits and forced to hand the place back, and despite hounding the Mercedes over the closing stages, he had to settle for second just 0.746secs adrift at the chequered flag.
When asked to describe the final laps Hamilton, who thought he would be unable to fend off the Dutchman, replied: "Ah, it was horrifying! It wasn’t great.
"I was struggling obviously at the end with the rear end of my car, the rear tyres had gone off.
"They were maybe eight laps older or something like that [11] to Max’s tyres, so I knew that he was going to catch me with 10 laps to go.
"I knew that it was going to be pretty much impossible to hold him behind, which it was, up until the turn four incident. Then after that, I couldn’t believe that I was just keeping him behind.
"I managed to keep him in my wake, well, he was right behind me so then [he was] stuck in my wake and that meant it was difficult for him to get close and he ended up wide in some places which gave me a little bit of an edge."
As to whether he enjoyed the final laps or they were too intense, naturally Hamilton drew pleasure from the fact Mercedes went into the weekend as underdogs and came away with the win.
"No, I loved every minute of it," enthused Hamilton. "Every minute of the weekend I’ve loved.
"Knowing for us as a team that we were behind in performance… these guys have done a better job so far and so for us to come away with this result, given that we weren’t the fastest this weekend, is a real result.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 News Today: Horner BLAMED for Newey nightmare as ‘absolute b******s’ Red Bull claims slammed
- 1 minute ago
Hamilton F1 rival makes astonishing admission with Verstappen claim
- 8 minutes ago
McLaren boss keen for stunning Alonso REUNION
- 1 hour ago
Schumacher BLAMES Horner for Red Bull's Newey nightmare
- 2 hours ago
Hamilton in Ferrari F1 SHOCK after team snub revealed
- 2 hours ago
Newey set for CRUCIAL meeting over Red Bull future
- 3 hours ago
Related news
Hamilton in Ferrari F1 SHOCK after team snub revealed
Hamilton in Arsenal title wish after STUNNING revelation
Cullen relationship blossoms with new star after moving on from Hamilton
Mercedes reveal shock RED livery to celebrate historic milestone
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860