Lewis Hamilton was one of the protagonists in the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix sprint race. The Mercedes driver tried to put pressure on Max Verstappen, but he didn’t have any arguments to beat or even truly bother the Red Bull driver: he finished second, more than nine seconds behind.
The seven-time champion acknowledged that his rival is still far out of reach, but he was satisfied with yesterday’s result in Austin: ‘It was a fun race! I had a good start into turn one and had a really good battle with Charles [Leclerc]. Running in second, I then focused on trying to catch up to Max in the early stages. However, their pace is unbeatable at the moment, so I wasn’t able to get close enough to challenge him. We still have a long way to go to match the pace he showed throughout the sprint. Nevertheless, I’m really happy to be back on the podium’.
Without hiding that he would like to keep Verstappen behind in the main race, Hamilton pointed out the podium as the main objective, anticipating a duel with McLaren and Ferrari: ‘Starting ahead of Max is useful. Ultimately, I think he will be breathing down our necks quickly considering the pace he had yesterday. I believe that will open up a good battle between us, Ferrari, and McLaren. We all seem to be on a very similar pace this weekend, so I hope we have a good fight. Keeping Max behind would be fantastic, but if not, we will do everything we can to finish on the podium and score good points’.
