Hamilton expected Vettel to overtake

Si Lewis Hamilton had managed to take pole at the Belgian GP on a wet track, the Championship leader had to quickly lose to his rival for the title Sebastian Vettel. The Mercedes W09 from the British was taken over by the Ferrari SF71H of the German on the Kemmel straight just before the safety car entered the track due to the accident involving Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Charles Leclerc (Sauber) and Nico Hulkenberg (Renault).

“I knew it was going to happen, it wasn’t a surprise, recognized the Mercedes driver. We were often faster in the second sector in qualifying, but that wasn't the case in the race and I wasn't able to keep up the pace. (Ferrari) was really, really fast today. »

Lewis Hamilton regrets the interruption of the race in the first round which weakened his chances of reply. The Briton still secured second place to maintain a lead of 17 points before the Italian GP played next week in Monza.

“It was decided at the end of the first lap with the safety car. It might have been different without the interruption. We did everything we could, but the Ferraris were definitely faster than us,” confirmed Lewis Hamilton on Canal+.

Discover the analysis of the Belgian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2180 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.