Lewis Hamilton did well to recover to sixth at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, although he did require some help from Mercedes to get past George Russell.
The seven-time World Champion started the race in P13 following a disastrous qualifying, which saw Hamilton eliminated in Q2.
Hamilton failed to make Q3 after being impeded several times during qualifying, whilst he also set his quickest lap time too soon.
Having started so far back, he did brilliantly to claim sixth, although it could’ve been so much better.
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He fell almost to the very back in the opening laps following a huge blunder by Mercedes, as they decided not to pit Hamilton or Russell when heavy rain started.
Mercedes initially decided to make both drivers stay out on their dry tyres, whilst the majority of the field pitted for Intermediates.
When the Silver Arrows did eventually decide to pit both drivers, they tumbled almost to the bottom of the field.
Based on this, Hamilton’s recovery is even more impressive.
He showed great pace during the race, but required help from the team to move past Russell.
Hamilton found himself behind Russell whilst on fresh Soft tyres, whilst Russell was on old Hards.
Being stuck behind his team-mate cost him several seconds, resulting in Hamilton insisting that positions should be switched.
Mercedes did eventually swap the two drivers, but it was another situation in which the Germans were too slow to react.
Hamilton could’ve possibly finished fifth had he not been stuck behind Russell, with the 103-time race winner having finished right behind Carlos Sainz.
Hamilton was quicker than the Ferrari driver, who did well to defend his position and score the Maranello-based team good points.
Finishing sixth actually saw Hamilton fall 12 points behind Fernando Alonso, who did well to finish second.
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Alonso’s result also resulted in Aston Martin reducing their deficit to Mercedes, which now sits at 40 points ahead of the Italian Grand Prix in one week.
Despite finishing sixth, Hamilton improved his head-to-head record against Russell.
Hamilton now leads Russell 10-3, with the former Williams driver having finished 17th.