Lewis Hamilton admitted he could have made a better job of his start in the Australian Grand Prix, which cost him a victory to his team mate.
Valtteri Bottas, who started second, beat pole sitter Hamilton to the first corner and went on to win the race.Asked what went wrong with his start in the post-race press conference Hamilton said: “I don’t really remember much of it, it was quite a long time ago already.”
“I don’t know, maybe I got wheelspin. It doesn’t really matter, Valtteri got a better start and at the first corner the good thing was we held position, we had the front row still.
“Valtteri did an exceptional job throughout the race so congratulations to him. After that it was just about bringing the car home.”
Later Hamilton added he: “Probably just too engaged with the clutch. But I don’t really know, I won’t know until I go back. But ultimately I didn’t do a good enough job.”
Hamilton pitted earlier than his team mate and during the race warned Mercedes his tyres were “wearing”. However he said afterwards he wasn’t concerned he’d need another pit stop before the end of the race.
“No not really. I wasn’t entirely happy with the balance I had. It wasn’t the end of the world. It wasn’t a problem for me to finish second.”
After the race Mercedes discovered the floor of Hamilton’s car was damaged in front of the left-rear tyre seal.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2019 F1 season
- Crying in the Melbourne car park at 2019 grand prix was my career low – Ocon
- McLaren Racing reports reduced £71 million loss in 2019
- Kvyat: Hockenheim podium last year was “my biggest achievement” so far
- How the FIA’s new encrypted fuel flow meter targets Ferrari’s suspected ‘aliasing’ trick
- “He smashed my office door”: 23 must-see moments from ‘Drive to Survive’ season two
Dmitry (@)
17th March 2019, 9:05
Damage to the floor?
Definitely it was Ericsson!)
Anyway I believe next race he will be back to his best. Hamilton. Not Ericsson.
Racefan (@racefan)
17th March 2019, 9:33
Why not just admit Botta’s was fantastic today and way better than him in every racing detail?
The best from today’ race was seeing Hamilton crack under pressure, like most other drivers do every season. He needs to step up his game – a lot. I don’t think Bottas will be very nice this season.
Lums (@lums)
17th March 2019, 9:47
ADUB SMALLBLOCK (@waptraveler)
17th March 2019, 14:31
“But ultimately, I didn’t do a good enough job”. How much more do people want Lewis to credit him team-mate and acknowledge his own shortcomings?? Good for Lewis, very gracious.
RP (@slotopen)
17th March 2019, 9:59
@racefan
I don’t see why we would doubt claims of floor damage. No question Bottas had a great weekend, but Hamilton losing by such a large gap suggests a problem.
Ajaxn
17th March 2019, 10:23
The gap between Bottas and Hamilton, is what you would expect of a wingman maintaining a safe distance behind to keep their rivals of the back of their leadman. You could see this as a master class by Hamilton.
petebaldwin (@)
17th March 2019, 14:12
@slotopen I don’t see why we would believe anything he says personally. He’s probably playing “mind games” or “bluffing” as many defended his comments about Ferrari as.
Ajaxn
17th March 2019, 10:20
Or why not admit the start was part of Mercedes strategy to secure Bottas a win at the start of the championship,
as they tried, but failed to do at the start of last year’s championship.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
17th March 2019, 10:17
Is it all because of Valtteri? I think minimum driver weight in 2019 had a big part on closer performance gap between the two Merc drivers.
toiago (@toiago)
17th March 2019, 12:46
@ruliemaulana I’d wager it’s a bit too soon to attribute the closer gap to the new driver weight rules. Bear in mind that Hamilton still got pole and last year they had some close qualifying sessions between them as well. If this is something that becomes a trend, say, 5 races into the season, maybe then a conclusion can be drawn.
AMG44 (@amg44)
17th March 2019, 10:28
Floor damage or not, Bottas looked unbeatable. Full marks to him and hope he continues the form he showed.
Was expecting such performance from Charles but he underperformed slightly with a costly run off in the early part of the race.
I think Hamilton needed this defeat. It will motivate him more to come back stronger. And Vettel too.
What a season it would be if 6 drivers are fighting for the wins.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
17th March 2019, 23:08
@amg44 Gasly is gonna have to step up big time if that’s to become a reality. I understand some tricky circumstances in not expecting such extreme track evolution in Q1, and Melbourne being a difficult track to overtake on, but still I can’t remember a red bull in recent years finishing outside the points with no mechanic issues or accidents. Verstappen managed 9th from last in Monaco, this was a very disappointing debut for Gasly, bordering on worrying.
Blackbox (@blackbox)
17th March 2019, 10:34
Was wondering the same thing. The driver weight rule change was a welcomed change and will definitely even things up, not only between Merc drivers, but will help especially those drivers that of sturdy build. After all, racing should be about skill, not who is lightest.
David BR (@david-br)
17th March 2019, 15:25
One different factor was how quickly the lights went out. Can’t recall Charlie Whiting (RIP) doing that for a long time.
grat
18th March 2019, 16:55
It’s supposed to be random… the lights come on at a set rate, but the time to lights-out is randomized to keep the teams from programming it into their (now banned) launch control systems.
RB13
18th March 2019, 12:01
Love how all the Ferrari supporters aren’t saying a word about Vettel’s performance or the floor damage and are suddenly the world’s biggest Bottas fans.
A new great white hope eh. I think not. You’ll all be silenced again shortly.