Lewis Hamilton says concerns about his tires led to the early pit stop that ultimately cost him the race win in Australia.
Having initially opened up a gap, Hamilton began struggling for grip in his first stint and, with Sebastian Vettel pushing him hard, it was decided to pit him early as the best way to stop the German jumping him at the stops.
However, he came out behind Max Verstappen, who had yet to pit, and was not able to get past. He lost crucial time, and when Vettel pitted, the German was able to emerge still in front.
“We had a really good start, which is fantastic,” said Hamilton. “It’s good to have a good getaway. After that, I was struggling with the grip from the get-go. Sebastian was able to always answer in terms of lap time, and the majority of the time do faster lap times. And then towards the end I got a bit in traffic, and the car started to overheat the tires, and I was struggling with grip, and it was to the point that I needed to come in.
“Plus, the gap was closing up and I was sliding around. So it was my call because otherwise he probably would have come by anyway. So then I came in and then I got obviously stuck in traffic, which is a little bit unfortunate, but that’s motor racing.”
Hamilton was gracious in defeat, praising both Vettel and his team.
“A big congratulations to Sebastian and Ferrari. I know it’s been a long time coming for them to get a result like this. It shows we are going to have a race on our hands, which we are very happy to have, which is great for the fans. Unfortunately, it’s harder than ever to get close to cars, which is a shame. We can’t even have a close battle but who knows, maybe in the future we will.
“Incredible amount of respect for Sebastian and what he’s achieved in his career. It’s been a privilege to be racing in an era with him, and now finally at a period of time when we can actually have a real race.
“I wish we could race a lot closer in the cars that we have today, but still I think the fact that we are similar pace-wise, it’s going to be a very very hard slog this season I think. It’s going to be physically and mentally demanding.”
Click HERE for full race results/recap
