“It was fair,” Lewis Hamilton claims he ‘left space’ for Carlos Sainz in close battle at Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton commented on his incident with Carlos Sainz as the two drivers made contact mid-way through the Spanish GP.

“It was fair,” Lewis Hamilton claims he ‘left space’ for Carlos Sainz in close battle at Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton with Carlos Sainz (Via: Imago, Alexitocrece, screenshot)

The Spanish GP witnessed a thrilling contest. Fans were able to see exciting on-track action throughout the race. However, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was not happy after Lewis Hamilton made contact with the Spaniard. Hamilton commented on the incident after the race.

Carlos Sainz had claimed that the Briton forced him off track during the race. The Ferrari driver lashed out at the FIA after Hamilton was not given a penalty. Lewis Hamilton claimed that he and Sainz raced fairly despite making contact at one stage. The seven-time world champion insisted that he had left enough room for the Ferrari heading into the first corner.

I think we [Carlos Sainz] bumped wheels but it was fair. I left him space.
Lewis Hamilton said post-race
YouTube video

Hamilton admitted that he and Carlos Sainz were racing to the limit. So much so, that the Briton reckoned that there was perhaps only a ‘piece of paper’ between the two cars at certain stages. As such, Lewis Hamilton remained adamant that it was simply a racing incident, something which the Spaniard does not agree with.

FS Video
It was right on the limit but, you know. Piece of paper between us.
Lewis Hamilton stated

Lewis Hamilton reveals Mercedes strategy after finishing P3 in Barcelona

The seven-time world champion revealed that he was set to drive on the soft tires in two stints of the race. Lewis Hamilton claimed that the hard compound was not even an option to ensure that he gets maximum performance over the course of the Grand Prix.

That was the plan from the beginning [going on the soft tire]. It was never an option to run the hard tire for me today.
Lewis Hamilton explained
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

As such, Hamilton started the race on softs before switching to mediums on the first stop. In the latter half of the race, the British driver pitted for another set of softs. On the other hand, Max Verstappen had used a hard compound tire for his second stint in the race. Nevertheless, Mercedes’ strategy worked out for Lewis Hamilton as he bagged his first podium of the 2024 season.

So I drove the race to a soft medium soft.
Lewis Hamilton noted

Certainly, Lewis Hamilton is delighted to be back on the podium in Formula 1. However, the seven-time world champion understands that there is work to do for Mercedes to match the likes of Red Bull and McLaren in the coming races. As such, fans would be waiting to see how Hamilton performs next weekend in Austria.

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