Lewis Hamilton’s attempt to catch Lando Norris in the final laps of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the McLaren proved too quick for the Mercedes.
The huge superiority of the MCL38 in the high-speed corners at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit proved too much for the Mercedes.
Earlier in the race Hamilton was able to resist the attacks of Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren. But passing one of the orange cars proved much trickier and Hamilton drilled home the message that Mercedes must address their performance deficit in high-speed corners.
Here’s how he saw his race.
Hamilton’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix messages
The Mercedes drivers shared the fourth row of the grid and Hamilton pursued team mate George Russell after the start. But when the Safety Car was deployed early Mercedes chose to split their drivers’ strategies.
McLaren, who had both their cars ahead of Mercedes, did likewise. Piastri pitted from fourth while Norris stayed out. Russell, who was told to do the “opposite” to Norris, came in.
Hamilton continued on his original set of tyres. As almost all the other drivers had pitted for fresh rubber, he realised that left him at a disadvantage.
| Lap: 7/50 HAM: 2’08.128 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | How was our pace compared to others? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Norris, yeah, it’s pretty good. Maybe a tenth down. He’s gaining in the high speed, but we’re gaining on the straights to him. Maybe a Norris’ deg looks a little bit worse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Am I staying out? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Affirm, out, staying out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 8/50 HAM: 2’53.631 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | That’s a big disadvantage that I have to. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Yeah, we’re just going to think about the long game, Lewis. Do something different. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Okay. Take me through a little bit where we have… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Lewis, HPP 11 position four. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So it’s four tenths we’re losing, mainly. So that’s from turn four to turn 10, not dissimilar to qualifying. Everywhere else gaining, in the corners and a bit of straight-line. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Is that managing? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Difficult to know how much others are managing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | Is that compare to George? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | To George it’s a pretty flat. There’s nothing really to be protecting. Those references were Alonso and Norris. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
By lap 16 Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc had passed Hamilton. He tried to stay with his rivals, who were on fresher rubber, but soon dropped out of DRS range.
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| Lap: 16/50 HAM: 1’34.435 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | They’re… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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