M
AV
Collect News Data
/esi/1339/6_A_10_367044_0/index.html?art_id=367044&ESI

Lewis Hamilton praises 'bold' and 'risky' Mercedes strategy after Hungarian win

:Headline: Lewis Hamilton praises 'bold' and 'risky' Mercedes strategy after Hungarian win:
The world champion has moved closer to a sixth title following his eighth win of the year.
PA | 7h

Lewis Hamilton heaped praise on Mercedes for the "bold" and "risky" strategy gamble which helped to win him the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The world champion took a giant stride towards closing out a sixth title by moving 62 points clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas with his eighth win of the year.

Max Verstappen had looked on course to claim his third triumph from four races following a faultless display by the impressive young Dutchman.

But Mercedes caught Red Bull off guard when they switched Hamilton to an aggressive two-stop strategy, ensuring he would end the race on fresher rubber than his rival.

Hamilton was set the daunting task of wiping out Verstappen's 21-second lead in 21 laps. But the fired-up Briton reeled the Red Bull car in and then passed Verstappen at the opening bend with three laps remaining to seal the 81st win of his career, strengthening his hold on the title race.

"It felt like a big gamble for us," said Hamilton, who questioned his team's strategy call on the radio.

"Before the second stop I felt I had the pace on Max and that I would have a few attempts at passing him.

“It was bold and a risky strategy call, but collectively we made it happen”
- Lewis Hamilton

"It felt like the steepest wall to climb, but you have to put complete faith in the team. I had to eliminate all doubt and question marks from my mind and go for the best laps I could do without dropping any time.

"It was bold and a risky strategy call, but collectively we made it happen. It was exceptional by the team."

Hamilton's drive to glory was captured by the cameras of Netflix, who were provided access to the Mercedes garage for the closing stages of Sunday's race.

After refusing to take part in the opening series of the Formula One documentary, Drive to Survive, Mercedes threw open its doors to Netflix at their home race in Germany last weekend.

But the Silver Arrows endured a horror show at a rain-hit Hockenheim, with Hamilton crashing from the lead. Bottas also failed to finish.

Britain's Lewis Hamilton struggled at Hockenheim (Sebastian Gollnow/AP)

Mercedes had planned to allow Netflix access at just one race this year, but the film makers were invited in to the garage in Hungary to document Hamilton's triumph, bookending a whirlwind week for the 34-year-old Briton and his team.

The behind-the-scenes footage will feature in the second season which airs next year.

Hamilton said: "I don't like to look at today as redemption. I don't make a lot of mistakes and the last race was a massive off-weekend for me.

"But going into the summer break, this win provides a great lift for the team, particularly after the difficult last weekend."

Hamilton will now have four weeks to recharge his batteries ahead of the push to clinch a title that will take him to within one of Michael Schumacher's record haul of seven. The action resumes at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps on September 1.

body check tags ::
amp_article_367044 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2019-08-05 10:10:59:
html db last update - 2019-08-05 05:33:05 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Lewis Hamilton

Click here for more stories about Mercedes

Share this article now:

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Sunday's Formula 1 news roundup: Wolff, Verstappen, Hulkenberg
Man United 'reject Rodriguez plus £27.4m bid for Pogba'
Teams approve 22nd race for 2020 - Wolff

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Greek Superleague Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CPAOKPAOK30264066145280
2Olympiacos29233368175172
3AEK AthensAEK Athens30186650193157
4AtromitosAtromitos30157841281352
5Aris ThessalonikiAris301541146331349
6PanioniosPanionios30115142745-1838
7LamiaLamia30910112837-937
8PanathinaikosPanathinaikos29138838271136
9PanetolikosPanetolikos30106143448-1436
10AEL LarissaLarissa30810122634-834
11Asteras TripolisAsteras3089132530-533
12OFI CreteOFI Crete30711123042-1232
13XanthiXanthi30711122234-1232
RPAS GianninaPAS Giannina3076171938-1927
RLevadiakosLevadiakos3056191545-3021
RApollon SmyrniApollon3024241155-4410
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
X

We value your privacy

A part of our GDPR compliance we need to ask for your consent. We and our partners use technology such as cookies on Sports Mole to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology on Sports Mole.