Overheating problem prevents Hamilton from fighting for podium

At the foot of the podium in Australia, Lewis Hamilton admitted that an overheating problem on his W13 did not allow him to get 3rd place in the race this Sunday.

Published on 10/04/2022 à 14:33

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Overheating problem prevented Hamilton from fighting for podium

In Australia, Lewis Hamilton finished just off the podium but picked up important points. ©DPPI/A. Vincent

Author of a very good start since the 5^e place on the rack, Lewis Hamilton has long claimed the podium in Australia. He even appeared provisionally for a few laps before Sergio Pérez slipped past him shortly before halfway.

In the fight against the Mexican, the seven-time world champion was then trapped by the Safety Car deployed due to the accident. Sebastian Vettel the 23^e round. His teammate George Russell, placed in front of him, then took the opportunity to make his obligatory stop, leaving his compatriot behind.

The two men then found themselves on the track and Lewis Hamilton then railed on the radio, telling his team that she had put him in “ a bad position ". At first glance, the Englishman seemed annoyed to find himself behind George Russell but once the Australian Grand Prix finished, he wanted to set things straight. He made it clear that this message followed the request of the low wall to ease up to preserve its car. " I couldn't fight for position because the car was simply overheating,” he said.

Although disappointed not to be able to join the fight for the podium in Melbourne, Lewis Hamilton still praised the collective effort of Mercedes with the 3^e and 4^e places in the race which offer them big points in the championship.

Vintage @LewisHamilton. Extracting everything from the package. 💪

Solid pace all day long and unlucky to miss out on a shot at the podium with the timing of the Safety Car. pic.twitter.com/R8IosbcjT1

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 10, 2022

« This is an incredible result for us as a team, he emphasizes. It's so positive. We were 1" behind on Friday it seems to me. And it didn't look very good for the future. We did a very good job overnight securing behind the 2^e line on the grid. It feels good to fight or at least have the feeling of being in the fight for the podium at the moment but obviously we couldn't keep up the pace of the Red Bull. Although we didn't necessarily improve the car over these three races, I think we really squeezed the most out of what we had."

It is a Lewis Hamilton in better shape than in Saudi Arabia who leaves Australia hoping that the progress glimpsed in Melbourne will be confirmed in Imola at the end of April (22-24).

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