Hamilton blames Pirelli for blistering during Austrian GP

The Austrian GP was probably the most eventful race of the calendar, with Verstappen grabbing the win in front of loud and happy Dutch crowd at the Red Bull ring.

Mercedes had a dreadful day out in the sun, as both Bottas and Hamilton had to retire due to technical issues.

Bottas had a gearbox issue fairly early on into the race, and was forced to retire because of it.

Hamilton cut a frustrating figure all through the race because of the massive VSC goof-up made by his team. He ultimately was forced to retire because of a loss of power.

After the VSC goof up, when Hamilton was forced down to the 4th spot, Hamilton was constantly complaining about blistering in his tyres and how it would be impossible for him to go all the distance with those tyres.

He was then brought back into the pits for another set of tyres, which further added to his frustration.

Hamilton has now blamed Pirelli for not giving out those thinner tyres that were in use during the Spanish and French GP, one’s that were suitable for hot conditions.

“They should’ve brought the other tyre here, the same tyres we had in the last race,” he said.

“It’s not unusual. When you make the wrong call, that’s what happens. They were supposed to bring the other tyre this weekend.”

“It doesn’t really make a difference to my weekend anyway” he added.

Hamilton emphasised on how his tyres prevented him from going flat out when he was pushed down to that 4th spot.

“I was trying to overtake,” he said.

“And that’s probably the problem with these tyres is you can’t stay in a race.

“I had the pace to put on a race and stay with them and be in the fight for the rest of the race and then the tyres don’t make it. In that circumstance, that’s robbed the fans of seeing more racing. But that is just the way it is.

“These tyres aren’t good enough for us to be able to really race.

“It’s a shame these tyres aren’t good enough that you can stay in the battle, you have blistering.” he concluded.

Vettel now leads the driver’s championship standings by 1 point.