Lewis Hamilton admitted that he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Sebastian Vettel take the lead of the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.
“I did everything I could today, but it’s not what anyone expected to happen,” he said after finishing in second place.
Hamilton comfortably led the opening laps of the race after repelling an initial two-pronged attack from Vettel and his Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen off the line.
Raikkonen was the first of the leaders to pit, and Hamilton responded to cover off the threat. That left Vettel in charge of the race on track. But moments later, a virtual safety car for a stricken Haas gave Vettel the chance to pit.
The VSC conditions should have ensured that Vettel gained no advantage, but a ‘software glitch’ at Mercedes meant that he came out ahead of both Hamilton and Raikkonen.
“I really still don’t now understand what’s happened. I did everything I believe that I was supposed to do,” a dazed Hamilton said.
“The safety car came out and then I was coming down the straight,” he recalled. “And all of a sudden, really last minute, I was told the Ferrari was coming out.
- Vettel outsmarts Hamilton for victory in 2018 season opener
“I didn’t even know the Ferrari was in.”
Asked what his feelings had been at that moment, Hamilton said he simply hadn’t been able to understand what he was seeing unfold.
“I think just disbelief was really from that moment until the end,” he said. “Just disbelief.
“Once I get back with my engineers they’ll do a debrief and obviously I’ll find out why.”
Hamilton attempted to pressure Vettel at the restart, but to no avail. After pushing for several laps he was ordered to back off to protect the car.
“I was hungry to try and recover from whatever the scenario,” he said. “Whether it was a mistake or not. I was risking it, but I could have lost all the points.
“This is one awesome circuit, but it’s so hard to overtake. Even with the extra DRS, obviously with the cars being as close as they were.
“At the end, I was really trying to live to fight another day – save the engine and we’ll try and regain the points later on.
“Eventually I think I made the sensible choice,” he said.
Hamilton duly crossed the line in second place. It’s his eighth appearance on the podium in Australia, more than any other driver, and he was keen to look on the bright side of the day’s events.
“It’s been an incredible weekend, honestly,” he said. “To arrive and have the performance we’ve had today.
“Big congratulations to Sebastian and Ferrari,” he added. “Today obviously they did a better job … They were very, very quick
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and work on it,” he continued. “But we still have great pace – our qualifying was great, and in the race I was able to apply some pressure at the end.
“At least in my heart I know that I gave everything this weekend. I’m sure the team is feeling pain right now but we will regroup and we’ll work on it.
“It’s a long, long way in the championship. It’s not all won in one race. That’s what I’m trying to focus on.”
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