“If Lewis Hamilton didn’t have the incident in the first lap, he would have won the race”- Former Williams driver heaps praise on the seven-time World Champion for his valiant drive in Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton drove a brilliant recovery race last weekend in Barcelona, when he went from P19 to finish P5 in the Spanish GP. 

Mercedes and Hamilton had a very slow start to the 2022 season. The two of them dominated the sport for the last eight years, with Hamilton winning six Drivers’ Championships in the process.

2022 on the other hand, has been a different story. What surprised people the most was how the 37-year old was being outperformed by his new Mercedes teammate George Russell. The latter has shown incredible consistency this season, finishing P5 or above in every race and getting the best out of the W13.

Hamilton however, has found it tough to match him in terms of results. He is sixth in the Drivers’ Championship with 46 points, 28 behind Russell.

At last week’s Spanish GP, Russell finished P3. Hamilton, who started the race P6, took damage to his tyres on the very first lap after a collision with Kevin Magnussen. He had to pit, and rejoined the track P19, but put in a stellar recovery drive, to end the race fifth.

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Lewis Hamilton is struggling for one lap pace compared to Russell

Juan Pablo Montoya, who raced in F1 from 2001-2006, shared his thoughts on the inter-team battle between Russell and Hamilton. While Russell seems to be getting more out of his car on a one-lap pace, Montoya still feels that Hamilton has the upper hand overall.

“I think George in one lap pace is doing a much better job than Lewis,” he said. “He’s getting more out of the car in one lap. But if you look at what Lewis did at the Spanish Grand Prix.”

“It’s kind of weird that he went on the radio and told the guy let’s park the car. And he kind of gave up. I understand why he did that being on the back and thinking there’s nothing to do and the car hasn’t been competitive in the last few races.”

“If you look at it, if he didn’t have the incident on the first lap, he would have had a chance to win the race. The other thing that is different is that he got excited halfway through the race when he started getting into the points.”

Hamilton will have to be at his best during qualifying this coming weekend in Monaco. The streets of Monaco don’t provide drivers with great overtaking opportunities, so the starting grid position is incredibly vital for the Brit.

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