Lewis Hamilton claims he’s “never seen a car so fast” after Max Verstappen overtook him with his Red Bull Formula 1 car in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Starting eighth and on the Hard tires, Hamilton chose to adopt a contra strategy for the majority of the race. Verstappen started in 15th after his driveshaft failed in qualifying. Verstappen had taken significant portions of time out of Hamilton on the pit straight by Lap 12 and had then pulled away.
At moments, the RB19, also driven by race winner Sergio Perez, was more than a second faster than Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Ferrari. With the midfield racecars, it could be roughly twice that. And seven-time world champion Hamilton was taken aback by the car’s pace. He was saying that not even his dominant Mercedes vehicles from 2014 through 2021 could have been that fast and that far ahead.
What did Lewis Hamilton have to say?
When asked by media about Red Bull’s pace compared to others, he said to RacingNews365.com, “I’ve definitely never seen a car so fast.”
“When we were fast, we weren’t that fast. That’s the fastest car I’ve seen, especially compared to the rest. I don’t know why or how but he [Verstappen] came past me with serious speed. I didn’t even bother to block because there was a massive speed difference.”
He didn’t speak about any illegal means, “I can’t question [the legality of the Red Bull], they’ve done a better job.”
Lewis Hamilton managed to finish the race ending up in the fifth position. He was behind fellow Mercedes teammate George Russell. George had a slight advantage in pace in regards to Hamilton though it was very important for him as he finished fourth.
It is the second consecutive season where Hamilton has started the season with a P5 finish. It was also the first time he did not have a podium in the first two races of an F1 campaign. The last time was in 2009.
Lewis Hamilton has 103 Grand Prix wins to his name. But he had his last victory in 2021 in the same Saudi Arabian circuit. He also spoke about his car, the W14’s many problems. The main problem is the lack of rear downforce.
He explained, “We’re a long way down on downforce, for one, so we’ve got to pick up the rear end. The more rear we gain, the more stable the rear becomes and I’ll be more confident to attack,”
“But I think, in general, just this, even if we do change that, there’s some specific thing in the car that I’ve never had, a position I’ve never had on previous year’s cars.
“For me, it is the thing making the uncomfortability, so I will work harder on this thing to make sure it is changed for next year.”
What do you think about Lewis’s comments regarding Mercedes’s speed? Let us know in the comments down below!
