Lewis Hamilton sees an opportunity in Austin to avoid an unwanted record. The Brit is currently tied with former Ferrari driver Didier Pironi for the record of most Grands Prix as a Ferrari driver – eighteen – without securing a podium finish in a main race. Hamilton starts fifth in the race at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, allowing him to cautiously dream of a podium finish. ‘The most important thing is to get past George Russell,’ explains the seven-time world champion.
Lewis Hamilton is in his first year wearing Ferrari red, but the desired results are still lacking. Apart from success during the sprint races, the Brit is still waiting for his first podium finish as a driver for Scuderia. After securing a fifth starting position during the qualifying in Austin, Hamilton believes he has a good chance of finally grabbing that long-awaited podium finish on Sunday.
After the qualifying session, Hamilton was asked if a first podium finish is possible at the Circuit of the Americas. “It certainly is, I just need to get past George (Russell, ed.). That’s the most important thing,” says the seven-time world champion, sounding combative. “The Mercedes are fast, as always. He (Russell) was able to put pressure on Max Verstappen in the sprint race. They’ve also had upgrades, just like Red Bull. I don’t know about McLaren, but I know that Mercedes recently had an upgrade, which is not the case for us.”
‘Quite satisfied with the weekend’
During the nineteen laps of the sprint race, a safety car came onto the track twice. This gave the drivers even less time to discover factors that could also apply to Sunday’s Grand Prix. For Hamilton, however, it was enough. “I definitely learned. I now know a bit more about where to place the car,” explains the Ferrari driver. “Overall, I’m quite satisfied with the whole weekend.” The Brit only struggled with understeer during the qualifying. “During the qualifying, I wasn’t as strong as during the rest of the weekend. The massive understeer forced me to steer too much, which was disastrous for the tires.”
