Sir Lewis Hamilton saw victory cruelly snatched away from him at the Dutch Grand Prix, as the seven-time World Champion looked to have his best chance yet of winning a race in the 2022 season.
After opting for a one-stop strategy, Hamilton found himself in an excellent position during the race at Zandvoort, with race leader Max Verstappen set to not only pit again, but to drop to third.
However, a Virtual Safety Car towards the end of the race saw the Mercedes F1 driver lose his advantage over his 2021 rival, as Verstappen was able to pit and exit the pit-lane whilst maintaining the lead of the race.
Hamilton actually ended up finishing the race in fourth, after a Safety Car with only a short number of laps remaining allowed everyone in the top four apart from the Brit to pit for Soft tyres.
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Whilst Hamilton inherited the lead from this, he couldn’t match the pace of those on the Softs after still being on old Medium tyres.
Verstappen reclaimed the race lead from Hamilton instantly, with George Russell and Charles Leclerc also managing to overtake the 37-year-old with ease.
It was an agonising end to the race for Hamilton, who was furious with his team at the time, but later praised them for the incredible improvement by the team.
The Brit hasn’t won since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where himself and Verstappen famously collided whilst the Dutchman was trying to let the Mercedes driver past.
Of course, Hamilton should’ve won the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix also, had it not been for race director Michael Masi making a “human error”, which saw him fail to follow the rulebook.
The tension and rivalry between the two last season was the sort that hasn’t been seen in years, with the Dutchman this campaign having seemingly raced to a 109-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship with ease.
Whilst Hamilton isn’t anywhere near the title fight, the rivalry between the two clearly hasn’t disappeared, with the British driver having given a clear sign of this when responding to a question asked by a journalist.
To celebrate the Dutchman’s home race, a number of drivers were asked what kind of driver and what kind of person the reigning World Champion is.
The 103-time GP winner gave a pretty evident answer of how he feels about the Red Bull Racing driver.
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“I wouldn’t ever comment on either of those,” Hamilton said to Viaplay.
Verstappen appears to also not be the biggest fan of Hamilton still, after being asked if he was concerned about the pace of his 2021 rival following qualifying.
“No,” Verstappen brutally answered.