Hamilton hoped for more, but delighted as Ferrari is "continuing to grow" as a team
Displaying a heroic drive in the second part of the British Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton conceded that he was hoping for more at his home race, but he was left to praise the Scuderia as it is "continuing to grow" as a team.
Having displayed an eye-catching performance across the practice sessions and qualifying, Ferrari endured an utterly disappointing afternoon at the British Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc was meant to start from P6 on the grid, but he elected to pit for slicks. However, his decision turned out to be the wrong one as the last segment of the Silverstone track was still damp.
On lap 11, the rain intensified so Hamilton pitted for a second set of Intermediates and Leclerc swapped back from Mediums to Inters as the Safety Car came out.
Conditions were extreme, with standing water and poor visibility. Cars were sliding around, struggling to stay on track. However, the track began to dry out quite rapidly, but it was still too early for slicks, with those who made an early change having off-track excursions.
Although Hamilton complained about the drivability of his car, the seven-time F1 champion looked very strong in the second half of the race.
The Briton completed several brilliant overtaking manoeuvres, passing George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll. However, he ran out of time to catch third placed Nico Hülkenberg.
As the race progressed, Leclerc came back into the points-scoring zone, albeit he made a mistake in the closing stages of the race, going off the track at Stowe, and finished down in P14 on a weekend when he could have fought for the victory given his race pace showed on Friday.
Reflecting on his first home race in red, Hamilton commented: “[It was a] difficult race, not a great one from my side. I did the best I could.
“As it showed there was plenty of mistakes out there and very, very tricky conditions, in really a very, very hard car to drive here – this car doesn’t like those conditions. Not ideal, but we got some points at least.”
"Not the result we were hoping for today but we’re continuing to grow as a team and I’m also getting more in tune with the car. Third place felt within reach at times but credit to Nico on his first podium, he drove a strong race.
"Silverstone always puts on a great show and the changing weather definitely made things interesting. Big thanks to the amazing crowd for all the support this weekend, it is always great to be home."
