After a late safety car intervention derailed his attempt to win the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton expressed regret to the Mercedes team for his enraged response.
Before the late drama when Valtteri Bottas parked his Alfa Romeo on the track and retired, the seven-time world champion was in the lead ahead of teammate George Russell.
To make a last-ditch effort to the finish line, Russell and Max Verstappen pitted, leaving Mercedes to leave Hamilton out on a pair of cold, worn medium-compound tyres.
He stated, “I think we had a vehicle to win. Given the situation, we had several challenges, including the safety car and a virtual safety car, yet the strategy and vehicle performed very well today.
“The finest pit stops were ours. The safety car certainly didn’t help, and I was on the verge of losing control of my emotions, so I apologized to the team. I was hoping we’d pull off a one-two as a team.
“I’m not sure what I said!
I briefly lost it, but I believe they know the intense intensity.
Hamilton’s mood swing mirrored the erratic performances of his Mercedes vehicle this season, but both he and Russell showed they have the potential to fight at the front of the field at circuits that suit their car.
We were moving at a good rate, Russell added. “I’m sad for Lewis, but I believed we had a real chance to compete for the win.
He drove a tremendous race, and we deserved a higher finish as a team. Unfortunately, though, that’s sometimes the way things work out.
He said he had begged to change the tires to soft ones.
“Pitting for that soft tyre was something I felt strongly about. I believed that was the right decision. Splitting the vehicles makes sense in that case, but Lewis is driving the front row, so it’s a little trickier for him.
“I mean, it’s so obvious in hindsight, but I believe that if we had both remained outside, Max would have still won the race.”
Toto Wolff, the team’s manager, argued that they were in an untenable situation.
“The risk was worthwhile… In the end, it’s just motorsports, so anything may go wrong, “explained he.
Christian Horner, the head of Red Bull, expressed astonishment that Mercedes elected to send in Russell and left Hamilton in the lead undefended.
“In the end, everything turned out brilliantly for us. I believed they would keep George out of the picture as Lewis’s backup gunner.”
Lewis Hamilton apologizes for emotional radio outburst before Dutch Grand Prix
