Lewis Hamilton had a memorable 300th race at Circuit Paul Ricard, finishing second behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Coming into the weekend, Hamilton would probably not have seen himself earn such an easy podium finish. Charles Leclerc looked strong throughout, so it was expected that the P1 and P2 places would belong either to him or to Verstappen.
However, Leclerc’s bad luck this season continued as he made a mistake that took him out of the race. Verstappen went past the Monegasque and Hamilton was promoted to second place. Thereon, the 37-year old did not make any mistake, and comfortably guided his W13 to a P2 finish.
His teammate George Russell held off Sergio Perez to finish 3rd, to earn the team’s first double podium of the season. It seems like the upgrades brought in my Mercedes to Le Castellet have made them more competitive.
However, Hamilton revealed that his drinks bottle failed mid race. This means that his race was not as comfortable or smooth as we thought it might’ve been.
Also read: Charles Leclerc has lost whopping 75 points from winning positions in the 2022 season so far
Lewis Hamilton lost a lot of weight after Le Castellet outing
F1 drivers have a drinks button installed on their cars, which when pressed allows them to stay hydrated mid race. This is extremely vital for the drivers, as it’s important for them to not get dehydrated.
The temperatures in Circuit Paul Ricard were scorching on Sunday, and the fact that Hamilton earned a P2 finish despite not being able to drink water during the race is commendable. He revealed this after the race.
“What amazing weather we’ve had,” he said. “And that was actually a tough race because my drinks bottle didn’t work.”
“But what a great result considering we’ve been so far off these guys all weekend. “Reliability is one thing that my team has been amazing at, so a huge congratulations to the team back in the two factories.”
“I didn’t see my weight just now, but I would imagine I lost probably around three kilos. So yeah, it’s enough. I’m looking forward to downing the rest of this drink,” the seven-time World Champion added.
Hamilton is P6 in the standings going into next weeks Hungarian GP. He is now 16 points behind fifth placed Russell.
Also read: Nico Rosberg confirms French GP will go off the calendar as it’s unable pay $55 Million
