SILVERSTONE, England: Kesilapan strategi dan masalah teknikal hanya menjadikan Mercedes lebih kuat sebagai sebuah pasukan, kata juara dunia Formula Satu, Lewis Hamilton, semalam.
Warga British itu yang menjuarai grand prix di laman sendiri sejak empat tahun lalu menjadi pilihan merampas kembali pendahulu keseluruhan minggu ini selepas tewas kepada pelumba dari Ferrari, Sebastian Vettal di Austria, Ahad lalu.
Kedua-dua juara dunia sebanyak empat kali ini, Vettel dan Hamilton hanya dipisahkan 1 mata dengan 12 lagi baki perlumbaan.
Hamilton tersingkir awal kali pertama sejak 2016 di Sipelberg sekali gus mengakhiri rekod 33 perlumbaan berturut-turut dengan kutipan mata.
Sebelum diketepikan gara-gara masalah tekanan bahan api, kedudukannya turun daripada tempat pertama kepada keempat apabila Mercedes gagal membawanya segera ke hentian pit selepas kereta keselamatan digunakan.
“Semangat berpasukan adalah lebih kuat daripada apa yang pernah berlaku,” kata Hamilton kepada wartawan.
“Kami sudah mempunyai pengalaman ini, dan kini kami mengendalikannya dan ia menyatukan kami.”
“Ada tenaga yang hebat dalam pasukan. Memang ia pengalaman menyakitkan, tetapi merapatkan hubungan kami.”
Hamilton berkata pasukan membuat beberapa “pembetulan” segera selepas perlumbaan, apabila rakan sepasukan Valtteri Bottas menghadapi masalah hidraulik.
Pemandu tidak dijangka menanggung sebarang penalti di grid perlumbaan Ahad ini di Silverstone akibat masalah teknikal di Austria.
“Pasukan ini hebat dan saya yakin kami sudah melakukan segala-galanya untuk memastikan ia tidak berlaku lagi,” kata Hamilton. - REUTERS
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Motor racing-Setbacks have made Mercedes stronger, says Hamilton
By Alan Baldwin
SILVERSTONE, England, July 5 (Reuters) - Recent strategy errors and mechanical failures have only made Mercedes stronger as a team, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday.
The Briton, winner of his home grand prix for the last four years, is heavily fancied to take back the overall lead this weekend after losing it to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in Austria last Sunday.
Both four times world champions, Vettel and Hamilton are separated by one point with 12 races remaining.
Hamilton suffered his first race retirement since 2016 at Spielberg, ending a record run of 33 successive races in the points.
Before being sidelined by a fuel pressure problem, he had already dropped from first to fourth when Mercedes failed to bring him in for an immediate pitstop after the virtual safety car had been deployed.
“The spirit within the team is stronger than it’s ever been,” Hamilton told reporters. “These experiences we’ve been having, and how we’ve been handling them, have really united us more than any other year.
There’s a great energy within the team. So, while it was a painful experience, it actually brought us closer. I think it made us stronger.”
Hamilton said the team had come up with some “fixes” immediately after the race, when team mate Valtteri Bottas retired early with a hydraulics problem.
Neither driver is expected to incur any starting grid penalties in Sunday’s race at Silverstone as a result of the mechanical problems in Austria.
“The team was super on it and I’m confident we’ve done everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Hamilton.
Chief strategist James Vowles made a public apology to Hamilton over the radio during last Sunday’s race.
“I really do feel like I have the best strategist team behind me,” Hamilton said on Thursday. “Look at how many wins I’ve had within this team. We’ve had far, far more success than we’ve had failures and nobody is perfect. It’s just the way the sport is.”
“We really do win and lose as a team,” added the Briton, who is out of contract at the end of the year but expected to agree a highly lucrative new deal.
Mercedes said there would be no contract announcement this weekend. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; editing by David Stamp)