“If I hadn’t had that issue at the start, I would have been fighting with the Red Bulls”: Lewis Hamilton makes bold claims after an impressive fifth position finish at the Spanish Grand Prix

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton talks about the impressive finish and why he felt to retire the car after the crash on the first lap

Lewis Hamilton had a frustrating start in the Spanish Grand Prix. A contact with Kevin Magnussen at turn 4 left both the drivers with damage and the Briton with a puncture.

The audience was questioning if he should be retiring instead of continuing as he was way behind on pace. However, he worked hard and fought back from 19th position to finish 5th.

As per the seven-time world champion, he would have been competing against Ferrari and Red Bull if the crash would not take place.

“A race that feels better than most wins” – Lewis Hamilton

The Mercedes W-13 is coming into pieces and the potential is finally being unlocked by the team. Hamilton’s teammate George Russell finished third and secured a crucial podium for the team.

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Post-race, a delighted Hamilton spoke with the media and reflected on his drive at the Spanish Grand Prix. He said: “I’m so happy. It felt a lot like some of the old days, the older races that I’ve done.”

The Briton further added: “It feels amazing. A race like that is like a win, it feels better than most wins when you’ve come from so far back.”

Mercedes star on retiring from the race after the first lap incident

Hamilton thought of retiring the car as he was last in the pecking order. Recalling the experience from the Jeddah corniche circuit, the Briton recalls that he felt it was impossible to get back to the points.

The Mercedes driver was almost 30 seconds behind at one stage of the race. Speaking about support from the team, he said: “But the team said I was on for eighth. I couldn’t understand it at the beginning and I thought they were being super optimistic. But I gave it everything to see where I’d come out and it turns out I was higher than eighth.”

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Explaining why he left to retire from the race, he added: “I wasn’t being defeatist. But, I was 30 seconds behind and I did not want to have to use a whole engine to drive around in last, or outside the top 15, to then have to take a penalty or something like that.”

In conclusion, he said: “But I’m glad we didn’t. It just shows that you never stop, never give up and that’s what we do.”