Hamilton stresses 'value' of remarkable Imola fightback in quest for eighth F1 title
Hamilton stresses 'value' of remarkable Imola fightback in quest for eighth F1 title
Lewis Hamilton has cited his recovery drive to second in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as "valuable" to his quest for a record-breaking eighth Formula 1 championship.
The Mercedes driver was hunting down rival Max Verstappen when he slid off whilst lapping George Russell's Williams at Tosa, losing eight positions as he reversed his way out of the gravel trap before pitting for a new front wing.
At one stage, Hamilton was on course to lose 26 points as Verstappen led with the fastest lap.
But after a red-flag period, ironically caused by team-mate Valtteri Bottas' frightening incident with Russell, the reigning champion was able to recover to second place, as well claim the fastest lap to retain his championship lead by a point to Verstappen.
"I think, without doubt, getting back to second and getting these points will be very valuable through the season," said Hamilton.
"If I’d lost 25 points, that would have been hard to recover, based on the fact that Red Bull...it’s the first time they’ve had a championship-winning car [in the current turbo-hybrid era]. Their car is incredibly fast.
"They were faster than us across the weekend, definitely in qualifying trim but it looks like a little bit also in race trim.
"I don’t know if they made a couple of mistakes, I think they did. Max did in qualifying, for example, otherwise, he would have been on pole."
Lando Norris joined Verstappen and Hamilton on the podium following a late tussle with Charles Leclerc for third.
With McLaren and Ferrari both showing signs of improvement, Hamilton is wary of potential pressure from both outfits.
"We’ve got a real close battle, which we love," added Hamilton.
"It’s great to see McLaren back up there after such a long time, it’s great to see Ferrari looking strong so there’s going to be a lot of exciting races up ahead and challenging for all of us in so many different ways."
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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
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