Lewis Hamilton calls for ‘serious conversations’ about Mercedes development direction after British GP

Lewis Hamilton secured his 13th British GP podium with third place in Sunday’s race at Silverstone as he finished behind Lando Norris and Max Verstappen; The Mercedes driver was unable to overtake Norris on the restartWatch the Hungarian GP live on Sky Sports from 21-23 July

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes needs a “serious conversation” about the direction of its car’s development after seeing McLaren’s pace at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished on the podium for the 10th consecutive year on Sunday at his home event with a third place, with the McLaren pair of Lando Norris second and Oscar Piastre fourth.

He believes McLaren’s updates are clearly similar to Red Bull’s concept, which could explain the leap forward they have made with their recent upgrade package.

“It’s definitely been a tumultuous season and the last year and a half. We have a lot of work to do,” the seven-time world champion explained. Sky Sports F1,

“I think I know exactly what we need to do and we’re going to have some serious conversations about what we’re going to do next.

“McLaren is testament to the direction they’ve gone and it’s impressive how quick they were at high speeds. Our car has power – the long distance is especially fantastic. As soon as we have the rear of them, We will stay on our way. This is what we have to fight for.

“George has done a great job for a long time on the soft tire and I have done too on the medium. We will have to hold on to the good parts and bolt on a few other things.”

Please use Chrome browser for more accessible video player

Highlights of the British GP at Silverstone, with Max Verstappen looking to win his sixth race in a row

At the press conference, Hamilton revealed that he was not looking for a podium after a difficult opening lap that saw him drop to ninth, and he finished seventh after disappointing qualifying.

“Finally it wasn’t the best feeling yesterday. After all, we had a very bad race last week and we knew coming here we had to upgrade,” he explained.

“So, we were all very hopeful the step we were going to take this weekend would get us closer. To our disappointment, unfortunately we didn’t have to take that step and for us to end up in sixth and seventh Fell. It’s a great feeling, knowing how hard everyone has worked and everyone in the team is feeling it.

“But I think about turning that negative feeling into a positive overnight, which we often do and work on our positivity, which we’ve got good momentum going into the long haul which showed on Friday and just keep your head down.” Will be done.

“When I went down to P9 at the start, I wasn’t feeling too good to be honest. But I had some fun trying to come back. So, kudos to the team for our strength on race day. I did not do that.’ I can’t wait to be on stage. So to be able to share with these people is huge.”

Wolff expected Mercedes to ‘eat up McLarens’ on safety car restart

Hamilton stood in for the injured Haas safety car Kevin Magnussen mid-race, so he had a huge advantage over his rivals, including Piastri and teammate George Russell.

McLaren elected to keep Norris on the hard tires and Hamilton on the soft, while Piastri was also on the old hard rubber and Russell on the medium.

On the restart, Hamilton caught up with Norris a few times at the end of Wellington Straight, Luffield and through midfield on the way to Copse, but the McLaren driver went on to win.

Please use Chrome browser for more accessible video player

The Silverstone crowd experienced an epic battle as Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton followed the safety car

Once DRS was enabled, Norris was able to keep up with Hamilton for second, which team principal Toto Wolff admits was unexpected.

“When the safety car was deployed I was pretty sure, if not convinced, that we would eat up the McLarens and finish P2 and P3 or even challenge at the front,” explained Wolff.

“You see how strong that car was. We could have been ahead in the first few laps but they both ran very strong. Because of their efficiency and speed in the high-speed corners and on the straight, there was no way to pass .them. It came as a surprise.”

Lewis Hamilton is fourth in the drivers’ championship after the British GP, 16 points behind Fernando Alonso

Hamilton continued: “Just knowing what it was like to be on the soft behind someone on the hard at the restart at the end, I knew it was going to be difficult.

“Obviously, I hadn’t run any races with McLaren so I didn’t know how strong they were in the first stint or in the race. It wasn’t until that moment that I started to see some of their power.and They grow stronger in the lap.

“I threw it in and I tried to overtake, but we had to pull a little more on the down straight. Then through the high speed, that’s where they were hitting us.

“So, tough. But it was fun for those first few laps. I wish we could have stayed in that close fight for many more laps, but it wasn’t to be and I hope for a few more of those battles to come.” Will be the future.”