Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Hamilton keen to 'put things right' in Austria

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Lewis Hamilton says he has some unfinished business at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix after struggling last year.

Having retired from the race in Canada in 2014 while Nico Rosberg took 18 points, Hamilton struggled throughout the Austrian Grand Prix weekend and made two errors in qualifying to start ninth on the grid. While he eventually finished second, Hamilton had to again lose points to his team-mate, so he says he is focused on erasing those errors this season.

"It was a great feeling to finally get back on top in Canada and add to the great memories I have there," Hamilton said. "Now, though, it's time to move on and put things right at a circuit I had a tough introduction to last year - Austria.

"Although I struggled in qualifying, starting down in ninth, it was actually a great race fighting back through the field. I think I was about fourth or fifth by the end of the first lap and then just kept chipping away to claw my way back to the podium, which was really good fun. Of course, I'll be working hard to have a clearer shot at the win on Sunday.

"Whatever happens, though, you can be sure the atmosphere will be incredible. Last year the grandstands were absolutely packed and the fans were just insane, so I'm looking forward to putting on a show for them."

Team-mate Rosberg admits he is wary of being pushed close by Williams again this year having been beaten by both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas in qualifying last season.

"My first race at this track last year couldn't have been much better," Rosberg said. "Of course, we didn't have the ideal start in qualifying - but we nailed it on Sunday and it was great to get the win. I'm sure we'll have some tough competition here once again with Williams and probably some others too."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.