First corner slump didn’t matter, says Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton played down claims that a first lap mishap, which saw the Briton plummet from 1st to 4th in a matter of meters, proved costly for his win chances.

The Mercedes driver pointed out that the Silver Arrows simply didn’t have the pace to challenge Red Bull and were even trailing to McLaren as proven by Lando Norris’ excellent performance.

“I fell back… I hit the target that I was supposed to go to but just had wheelspin, then I was under attack all the way to Turn 2.” Hamilton said.

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“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. I didn’t have the pace to hold onto those guys [Red Bull and McLaren] anyway.”

Eventually Hamilton had to settle for 4th, having been passed by a resurgent Sergio Perez, who came form 9th on the grid to claim a podium finish. Despite good pace in the latter stages of the race, the 7-time world champion remarked that his team are “long-way away” from victories at the moment.