Lewis Hamilton has claimed that he was always in control to keep Nico Rosberg at bay as the reigning world champion cruised to win Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
Sitting on pole at the Albert Park Circuit, the Briton enjoyed a strong getaway off the line and stayed in front of the field for almost the entire afternoon.
Indeed, Hamilton only relinquished the lead to Rosberg when he stopped one lap earlier than his Mercedes team-mate.
Although the two-time world champion never came under intense pressure from last year’s Melbourne victor, the gap between both W06 Hybrids kept oscillating between 1.5 and 3.5s during the Grand Prix.
However, Hamilton explained that he was just shadowing Rosberg’s pace and could have upped his game in order to fend off any potential challenge from the 2014 runner-up.
“Nico was really quick throughout the race,” said Hamilton. “And it was really trying to manage the fuel and the tyres not knowing where the limit is in terms of how far they can go.
“Once you get a two-second lap to try to manage that there is no need to eke out more. When Nico turned up the heat I was able to react, which was good. Otherwise it was a phenomenal race for both of us.”
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