Sir Lewis Hamilton is relieved that his Mercedes team were able to grab a podium at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, but has warned there isn’t a quick fix to the issues they have been facing.
It looked as though the Silver Arrows would be ending the race in Sakhir fifth through Hamilton and sixth through his team-mate George Russell, but dramatic late reliability issues for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez put them out of the race.
The 37-year-old gratefully took the opportunity in front of him and came home behind the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who took the Scuderia’s first 1-2 since 2019.
Hamilton sympathises with the desolating end to Red Bull’s race, but is glad that Mercedes’ efforts in a difficult weekend yielded a trophy to take home.
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“It was such a difficult race; we’ve struggled throughout practice. This is really the best result we could have got and it’s unfortunate for the other two drivers [Verstappen and Perez] but we did the best we could and we’re grateful for these points,” he said in his post-race interview.
However, it likely does little to assuage the concerns over the Brackley team’s fundamental lack of performance, and the Briton recognises that it will take time to find definitive solutions.
“I know the guys are working really hard back at the factory and it’s not going to be a quick turnaround but we all know as a team, I do feel that we’ve been the most unified team for so long,” Hamilton cautioned.
“We all know that [we need to] keep [our heads down], keep working and there’s a long, long way to go.”
As for Ferrari, this was their first win in 44 races since Sebastian Vettel’s success in Singapore in 2019 and, having battled Ferrari for the title on numerous occasions, the seven-time champion enjoyed seeing the Scuderia back on top.
“Big, big congratulations to Ferrari, I’m so happy to see them doing well again,” he added.
“They’re such a historic, epic team so it’s great to see Carlos and Charles up there as well, so congratulations to them.”
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Mercedes sit second in the Constructors’ Standings after round one, with six teams scoring points after Red Bull’s late drama in Bahrain.