Sir Lewis Hamilton has revealed the pressing reason he felt the need to jump off the parade bus ahead of the season-opening 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The drivers embarked on their customary tour of the circuit in Sakhir in a parade bus, as they waved to the fans and took questions from reporters, previewing the evening of racing ahead of them.
As he usually does, Hamilton sat towards the front of the bus away from the rest of the drivers as he began to put his focus into what was always going to be a difficult race for Mercedes.
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Hamilton qualified fifth, while team-mate George Russell could only manage ninth following an adverse pre-season during which they suffered from “porpoising” and other handling difficulties presented by the new technical regulations.
At the end of the race, the seven-time champion took advantage of a double retirement for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to claim a podium finish at the culmination of a trying weekend as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took a one-two.
“Still thinking about last weekend,” he said on Instagram.
“None of us were expecting a result like that, hard work and luck really pulled through in our favour.
“Definitely pumped for round 2, in the meantime enjoy these photos,” he added, posting pictures of him celebrating his P3 with his team, working with the engineers in their offices, greeting Pierre Gasly, and a shot of his physiotherapist Angela Cullen.
He added a picture of him prematurely disembarking from the parade bus to run back towards the garages, and he explained that he was in desperate need of a comfort break.
“Also, I had to hop off the parade because mans had to go,” he amusingly disclosed.
“Didn’t land too gracefully but Valtteri didn’t look too worried.”
READ: Wolff has ‘no doubt’ 2022 Mercedes will allow Hamilton and Russell to fight Red Bull and Ferrari
The final picture on the post was a close-up of his former Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas’ face, looking on at the Briton as he jumped from the moving bus.
“I just knew you’d be okay,” was the 32-year-old’s reply, followed by a cry laughing emoji.