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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left hugely impressed by the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, following the British GP at Silverstone
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left hugely impressed by the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, following the British GP at Silverstone
Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes need “serious conversations” about the development direction of their car after seeing McLaren’s pace at the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished on the podium at his home event for a 10th consecutive year with third place on Sunday, in between the McLaren pair of Lando Norris in second and Oscar Piastri in fourth.
He feels McLaren’s updates are visibly similar to Red Bull’s concept, which may explain the jump they have made with their recent upgrade package.
“It’s definitely been an up and down season and the last year and a half. We have a lot of work to do,” the seven-time world champion told SkySports F1.
“I think I know exactly what we need to do and we have got to have some serious conversations about what we are going to do moving forward
“The McLaren is proof of the direction they have gone and it’s impressive how quick they were in the high speed. We have strengths in our car – long runs particularly are great. As soon as we have the rear end that they have, we will be on our way. That’s what we have to fight for.
“George had a really great long stint on the soft tire and I did also on the mediums. We have to hold onto the good bits and bolt on some other stuff.”
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Highlights from the British GP at Silverstone, as Max Verstappen looked to secure a sixth consecutive race win
In the press conference, Hamilton revealed he was not thinking about the podium after a difficult opening lap, which saw him drop to the ninth, and followed a disappointing qualifying where he was seventh.
“Yesterday wasn’t the greatest feeling at the end. Ultimately, we had a really bad race the previous week and we knew we had an upgrade coming here,” he explained.
“So, we were all very hopeful of the step that we were going to take this weekend and bring us in closer. To our disappointment, it didn’t take us that step unfortunately and for us to be sixth and seventh just ultimately wasn’t a great feeling, knowing how hard everyone’s worked and everyone was feeling it in the team.
“But I think overnight to turn that negative feeling into a positive, which we often do and work on our positives, which is that we got good long run pace that showed on Friday and just get your head down.
“After I went down to P9 at the start, I honestly didn’t feel too good either. But I had some fun trying to come back through. So, hats off to the team for our strength in the race day. I didn’t expect to be on the podium. So this is mega to be able to share with these guys.”
Wolff expected Mercedes to ‘eat up McLarens’ on Safety Car restart
Hamilton pitted during the mid-race Safety Car for Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas, so benefitted a lot compared to his rivals including Piastri and team-mate George Russell.
McLaren elected to put Norris on the hard tires with Hamilton on the softs, while Piastri was also on older hard rubber and Russell on the mediums.
On the restart, Hamilton got alongside Norris a few times through the middle sector at the end of the Wellington Straight, Luffield and on the way to Copse, but the McLaren driver prevailed.
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Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton treated the Silverstone crowd to an epic battle, following the Safety Car
Once DRS was enabled, Norris was able to keep Hamilton at bay to hold onto second place, which team principal Toto Wolff admits was unexpected.
“When the Safety Car was deployed I was pretty sure, if not convinced, we would eat up McLarens and finish P2 and P3 or even challenge at the front,” explained Wolff.
“You see how strong that car was. We could have had a go in the first few laps but they both speeded very strongly. With their efficiency and top speed through the high-speed corners and on the straight, there was no way of passing them. That came as a surprise.”
Lewis Hamilton is fourth in the drivers’ championship, 16 points behind Fernando Alonso after the British GP
Hamilton added: “Just knowing what it’s like to be on the hards in the restart at the end with someone on the softs behind, I knew that it would be difficult.
“I hadn’t, obviously, had any running with the McLaren, so I had no idea how strong they were earlier on in the stint or in the race. It wasn’t until that moment that I started to see some of their strengths and them get stronger and stronger over the lapse.
“I threw it up the inside and I tried to get past but we have a little bit more drag down the straights. Then through the high speed, that’s where they were just murdering us.
“So, difficult. But it was fun for those first few laps. I wish we could have stayed in that close battle for many more laps but it wasn’t meant to be and I look forward to hopefully having some more of those battles in the future.”
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