F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Hamilton admits 'I don’t think I’ve ever been so blown!'

X (Twitter)X (Twitter)
FacebookFacebook
WhatsappWhatsapp

Lewis Hamilton only managed third place in the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and afterwards he admitted that his recent bout with coronavirus had continued to take its toll on him this weekend.

"You can't win them all," the Mercedes driver told the media after the race. "I think considering the last couple of weeks I had, I am really generally happy with the weekend.

"[Third] is obviously not as good as we would like," he acknowledged. "That was a really hard race for me physically. All year, physically I have been fine but today I definitely wasn't.

"I don't think I have ever been so blown. My body is not feeling great but look on the bright side, I made it through," he said, adding that his participation in the race had been a close call: "I didn’t think any time last week that I’d be here.

"I am truly grateful for my health and to be alive and looking forward to recovering over the next period of time we have and getting back into training and get my body back to where I know it should be."

Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas was also no match for race winner Max Verstappen this weekend and Hamilton himself came under late pressure from Alex Albon. It was an odd reversal of fortune on the rest of the season which has been dominated by Mercedes.

"“It’s obviously not 100 percent, it’s not as good as I’d perhaps have liked, but congratulations to Max." said Hamilton. "The Red Bulls this weekend were just too far out of reach for us.

"We just couldn't hold onto the pace they had and a fantastic job to see Alex right up there with us. We were having a two-team battle which I think is what the sport needs.

"It’s still a fantastic result to get two podium finishes for us," he pointed out, crediting the Mercedes squad as a whole. "Big, big thank you to the team for their continued support."

"Red Bull was too quick today," agreed Bottas, who nonetheless clinched second place in the drivers championship with today's result. "Surprisingly quick!

"We thought the race pace would be pretty identical but they could really control the race and build the gap they needed," the Finn added. "I was trying everything I could but couldn't keep up with them."

Pre-race reports suggested that Mercedes had been forced to turn the power down on the engines due to concerns about the reliability of its MGU-K component heading into the final race of the season.

"The MGU-K is below the power that it should normally give,' team principal Toto Wolff admitted. "We've taken a bit of performance out of it, on all the Mercedes engines."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Melbourne Speed Trap: Who is the fastest of them all?

Saturday’s qualifying session at the Australian Grand Prix delivered a fascinating glimpse into the aerodynamic…

6 hours ago

Australian GP: Saturday's action in pictures

McLaren emerged as a dominant force in Saturday's Australian GP qualifying, with Lando Norris and…

10 hours ago

Antonelli F1 debut derailed by floor damage in Melbourne

Mercedes has revealed that damage to Kimi Antonelli’s car floor significantly impacted his performance during…

11 hours ago

Tsunoda says ‘magic’ P5 lap ‘came out of nowhere’

Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda delivered a stunning performance in Saturday’s Australian Grand Prix qualifying, dialing…

13 hours ago

Russell stunned by McLaren lead: ‘They can focus on ’26 now’

Mercedes’ George Russell faced a stark reality after Saturday’s Australian Grand Prix qualifying: McLaren’s dominance,…

14 hours ago

Norris admits pole comes at a price in 'faster but trickier' MCL39

McLaren delivered a commanding performance in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, but poleman Lando…

15 hours ago