Lewis Hamilton described taking second place in the Australian Grand Prix as an “amazing” result for his Mercedes team.
Hamilton started third on the grid behind team mate George Russell and pole winner Max Verstappen. After passing Verstappen on the opening lap, Hamilton inherited the lead under the first red flag after Russell pitted under Safety Car, but was eventually passed by Verstappen after the race resumed. Hamilton was unable to take the lead at the final restart and finished second behind Verstappen as the race ended under Safety Car.
“To get those points is really amazing today,” Hamilton said. “I definitely didn’t expect to be second, so I’m super grateful for it.”
After switching to hard tyres under the first red flag, Hamilton was heard doubting whether his tyres would last until the end of the race over team radio. Hamilton insisted he “definitely wasn’t bluffing” about his tyre wear concerns as he was pursued by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin throughout the bulk of the race.
“I was having to push a lot right at the beginning obviously to keep Max behind and then Fernando was pushing,” he explained. “They’re very, very quick.
“I think ultimately he was a little bit quicker today, behind me, but I just managed to hold him off. So for that I’m really grateful.”
Despite securing Mercedes’ best result of the young season, Hamilton admitted his team still had work to do on their W14 car.
“I don’t feel connected to it, so I’m driving as best I can with that disconnect,” he said. “And I’m working as hard as I can to try and create that connect.
“I think it’s a long project. But still, considering we’ve been down on performance, we’re clearly down on end of straight pace compared to the Red Bulls, for us to be up here fighting with Aston is just amazing at this point in the season and we’ve just got to keep on fighting.”
While pleased with second place, Hamilton had sympathies for his team mate who retired from the race after leading the early laps.
“I think it’s really unlucky for George today,” he said. “On our side we’ve got to look into, our reliability has generally been really good so that’s really unfortunate.”
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2023 Australian Grand Prix
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