Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has pointed out a positive side from yesterday’s disappointing Austrian GP sprint.
The Mercedes star didn’t live up to his reputation yesterday as he failed to even gain a single point in the sprint race for the Austrian GP. After a horrendous qualification race, Hamilton had to start the race in 18th position.
The British driver also had a lap taken away due to breaching track limits during the race. He was also involved in a controversial blocking incident with racing rival Max Verstappen. After blocking him in the final corner, Lewis was then blocked by Max again in a possible revenge attempt.
All of this meant that Lewis had to be knocked out in just the first part of the sprint race. He finished at just 10th, meaning he will get no points.
Lewis Hamilton regrets missed opportunity Austrian GP sprint
After the race, a disheartened Hamilton appeared in front of the media to share his thoughts. Despite his assertion that the sprint race was a wasted chance to gain points, he picked up one positive aspect.
In the interview with Sky Sports, Hamilton said that he felt that he was very quick today and deserved a podium finish.
“I think I was relatively quick this morning so I think I should have easily been in the top five, and then in the race, I would have probably been on the podium, or close to the podium, with the general pace that we had.”
His words aren’t without merit, as he did go from a lowly 18th position to a respectable 10th position, given all the obstacles he had to go through as well. However, he didn’t dwell too much on the race’s outcome and said he is looking forward to the main race today.
“But that wasn’t meant to be and so we just enjoyed ourselves in the race and lost a few points, but it’s not the most important of days today. We’ve got a lot of learning. so hopefully we can take that in tomorrow.”
Who won the Austrian GP sprint race?
Without any surprise, it was current world champion Max Verstappen who again won the sprint race. He had to beat his own teammate Sergio Perez, who ended up in second ensuring the dominance of Red Bull. Perez had led the race from lap 1 due to a risky manoeuvre against Verstappen. But Verstappen quickly managed to snatch the top spot through a risky manoeuvre of his own against Perez.
Ferrari boy Carlos Sainz managed to grab the third podium finish.
Currently, Verstappen leads the 2023 Driver’s Standings with 203 points. His teammate Perez is second with 133 points, which shows the current dominance of Verstappen. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin is third with 121 points and Lewis Hamilton at fourth with 102 points.
Lewis Hamilton will now start today’s Austrian Grand Prix race in fifth place. He will be hoping for a third consecutive podium finish, after doing so in the previous races in Spain and Canada.
