Lewis Hamilton's "blind faith" in Mercedes led to historic victory

Hamilton, Mercedes, RussianGP — Photo: © LAT Images

Russian Grand Prix

Hamilton's "blind faith" in Mercedes led to historic victory

Hamilton's strategy in changing conditions handed him win number 100

Ewan Gale

Monday 27 September 2021 12:44

Lewis Hamilton has revealed he put "blind faith" in Mercedes' decision to pit for intermediate tyres with four laps remaining before winning the Russian Grand Prix.

The victory ensured Hamilton became the first driver in F1 history to reach the historic 100 landmark.

The seven-time champion had looked as if he would be forced to settle for second position as Lando Norris held the lead but when the McLaren driver failed to pit for intermediates when Hamilton did, the race flipped on its head.

Article continues under video

Asked if he could sympathise with his countryman, Hamilton said: "Yeah, for sure. He’s so young, he’s got so many more wins up ahead of him. He did a fantastic job in qualifying in the wet.

"He’s doing a great job leading that team, and look, McLaren won the last race [in Italy], they’ve been very hard to beat for us all, but yeah, just blind faith at the end there.

"I put all my faith in my team and they called me in and I believed them, and that’s part of our journey together.

"It could have played out any way but I think our team did a great job in terms of understanding where the rain was coming and it was going to get worse and it was 100% worse.

"Of course, I had to play my role to try to get us in that position in order for that to work. Teamwork makes the dream work."

McLaren "so quick on the straight" - Hamilton

Hamilton had closed within a second of Norris before the rain came down but was unable to make a move into the lead.

The struggles replicated the opening stint of the race where Hamilton was forced to stare at the rear end of Norris' team-mate Daniel Ricciardo for a third of the 53-lap race.

"In the initial phases I was just saving, then I looked at my dash and I saw on my pit board and I realised, I think, it was lap 42 or something like that," explained Hamilton.

"Then all of a sudden I start to attack but just like when I was behind Daniel, you need a big delta to be able to have an opportunity to overtake.

"They were quick on the straights, very quick out of the last corner so I don’t know whether or not I would have got by or got close enough.

"I think I was just about to get into the DRS zone or just got into the DRS zone and then obviously the rain came so it would have been tough to get by. It is so quick on the straight."