Hamilton’s mea culpa: “We talk nonsense and we learn from these situations”

His words surprised the paddock of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday evening. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) had implied that Scuderia Ferrari had adopted a strategy aimed at voluntarily excluding Mercedes from the circuit.

“These are interesting tactics on the part of Ferrari, but we will do what we can to challenge them in the next rounds (…) We have to position ourselves in a better way, so as not to be under threat from the red cars, because who knows what they can do », declared the Englishman at a press conference.

“I find it a bit unnecessary to even go there”

Lewis, Seb and Kimi give their reactions to that first-lap incident#BritishGP pic.twitter.com/FABsbL3qU5

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 8, 2018

A few hours later, the four-time Formula 1 world champion returned to his comments. On his Instagram account, Lewis Hamilton explained that he was physically and nervously tired after the race and regrets his comments.

« I lost almost three kilos trying to get back on top, for my team and my fans. I had almost no energy left to stand and talk. If you can't understand that, I completely understand. Nevertheless, It had nothing to do with anger. (I was) just literally physically and emotionally exhausted. »

Lewis Hamilton, who finished second in the race after a collision during the first braking against Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), is eight points behind on Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) in the general standings of Drivers.

« Kimi apologized, I accept that and we move on. It was a racing incident and nothing else. Sometimes we talk nonsense and we learn from these situations." His boss Toto Wolff was also angry with the rival team. Will he change his mind and calm down the game?

Discover the analysis of the British GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2173 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.