“I don’t slow down”
Hamilton receives a painful radio message
By Emmanuel Schneider
05/08/2023 11:12 am
Lewis Hamilton manages to catch up in the shadow of World Cup dominator Max Verstappen. The record world champion in Formula 1 jumps from 13th to 6th at the Miami Grand Prix. In the middle of the race, however, he experienced a bitter situation because of his teammate.
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton has had an eventful weekend in Miami. The 38-year-old quarreled with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, defended the massively criticized show performances of the F1 guest appearance in the USA and then galloped forward from 13th to 6th place after a poor qualification in the race.
While the new king was being crowned in Great Britain, thousands of kilometers away, the British drivers were denied the Formula 1 throne. The times when “Sir” Lewis Hamilton was the undisputed number 1 in the paddock and team are long gone anyway. In the meantime, a Hamilton has to put up with the team success. This became clear in the middle of the race in Miami.
On lap 31, team-mate George Russell appears in Hamilton’s rear-view mirror. Since his compatriot has already swapped tires once, Russell has an advantage. Hamilton receives clear instructions from the command post not to fight for his place with the garage neighbor and to let him pass.
Hamilton hums back soberly: “He can overtake, but I don’t slow down.” In other words: the stable mate doesn’t get anything for free here. But just a short time later, Russell easily passes Hamilton, who politely and according to regulations leaves some space for overtaking. Russell politely thanks: “Thanks! I appreciate that.”
British fair play from Hamilton
The team peace at Mercedes will presumably remain intact. Hamilton swallowed the team order frustration and cleared the way. British fair play. “That allowed me to drive my race. We have a very good relationship at the moment and we both want the best for the team,” Russell said after the race on the relationship between the drivers.
Thanks in part to Hamilton’s support, Russell was still fourth after the position swap. In lap 37, the Mercedes crown prince conceded Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz and defended fourth place to the finish.
A few turns after the Mercedes radio message, Hamilton also went into the pits and picked up new medium tires. The Silver Arrow duo used alternative strategies: Hamilton started on the surprisingly good hard tyres, switching to medium on lap 37. With the fresh reels, the seven-time world champion then grabbed Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). Russell used an opposite medium/hard strategy.
In the initial phase, Hamilton still had problems making up ground: A DRS train (many drivers in a row with flattened wings) slowed him down at first. “After that I was able to start catching up. I then enjoyed fighting with different cars and catching the Alpine and Ferrari at the end was great,” said Hamilton. “Once I had a clear path it went better. And once I got rid of the hard tires I was finally able to attack. In the middle of the race the race car came alive. If you finish sixth from 13th on the grid then you shouldn’t complain. It was a fun race.”
Despite the entertaining race to catch up, the Silver Arrows are still waiting in vain for their breakthrough this season. In Miami they were third force behind Red Bull and Aston Martin – ahead of Ferrari, which disappointed again a week after the Baku podium.
The distance to the top is worrying. At the front, Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen fought for victory. Fernando Alonso drove so unchallenged in third position that he not only observed the maneuvers of his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll on the screens at the track, but even commented on them and was celebrated by the fans for it.
Where are the others?
After the end of the race, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner poured malice on the competition: “Five races, five victories, plus the sprint, four double victories. We’ve never had such a start,” he said with relish at Sky and pushed afterwards: ” We ask ourselves: where are the others?”
Yes, where is Mercedes?
With 56 points in fourth place, Hamilton is the best Silver Arrow driver in the drivers’ standings. His results: two fifth places, two sixth places, only in Australia was it enough for second place on the podium in the chaos race. In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes is third, just behind ex-Vettel team Aston Martin.
More is currently not possible for the W14, this year’s version of the Silver Arrow. A basic problem: The race pace is significantly better than the qualifying performance, which was shown again in Miami. The form fluctuates enormously within a weekend.
The team management has announced extensive upgrades for the upcoming race in Imola. But the joy remains at least limited. Of course he’s happy about the new parts, said Hamilton, “but I don’t assume that we’ll be one second per lap faster with the new parts. That won’t happen. I hope it will be a step forward.”
Team boss Toto Wolff explained succinctly that fourth and sixth place for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were at least “no longer uncomfortable”. The anger about the weak pace in qualifying was still there. The Austrian is already stacking deep for the coming ones: “Please don’t have great expectations!” The attack on the F1 throne is postponed until further notice.