Hamilton recalls trying to chase down Max Verstappen at the 2022 French Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton secured P2 in the recent 2022 French GP. The 7-time world champion was behind Max Verstappen for most of the race.
The 37-year-old jumped Sergio Perez at the start of the race and cruised behind Verstappen in P3 till lap 18.
At lap 18 a safety car was triggered due to the unfortunate crash of Charles Leclerc. After the Safety Car Lewis came close to Verstappen on restart. However, the Briton wasn’t able to keep up with the pace of the Red Bull.
Speaking to the media after the race, Hamilton reveals his astonishment over the pace of the Red Bull:
“I was trying to keep up with Max, but he’s just so fast.”
“I was kind of keeping with him for maybe two laps, but I’m full blast down the straight and he’s pulling away,”
added Hamilton.
Lewis further appreciated the straight-line speed of Red Bull and called for the Mercedes deficit in that factor:
“I think today was one of the biggest straight line deficits we’ve had. If you’re losing three or four tenths on the straights, there’s nothing you can do about that.”
So we’ve got to work to improve that for the future. I’m sure there’s a couple other places that we could be better,”
said Hamilton.
“If I had pushed them more, then maybe I wouldn’t have seen the end of the race in the same position. I had to also keep the car one piece and keep the tyres there, so this is the best result we could get,” Lewis further elaborated,”
explained the Briton.
Lewis Hamilton secured his 5th podium of the season with this P2. Mercedes is also closing the gap on Ferrari with P3 on constructors. The Silver Arrows are just 44 points behind the Scuderia.
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