“Those guys [Red Bull] were incredibly quick”– Lewis Hamilton yields infront of Red Bull’s superiority at COTA

Red Bull’s thumping performance at the COTA during the qualifying keeps Mercedes at the setback, as the former now eyes for a win.

By the end of the qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was two-tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen, which now keeps the Dutchman at the pole position ahead of the Sunday race.

Reacting to his performance on Sunday, Hamilton claims that Red Bull was extremely fast at COTA. Even though the Briton tried everything in his books.

“I gave it everything today – it was a bit of a struggle through qualifying,” says Lewis Hamilton. “I think from P1 onwards, we fell back a little bit, and those guys [Red Bull] were incredibly quick.

“I was happy with my last lap, of course there’s always areas we can improve but I think that was pretty much everything we had,” he added. When asked about what will be his objective on Sunday “We’ll just work as hard as we can tomorrow. My mindset is to win the race,” said Hamilton.

Also read: Toto Wolff unsurprised by Mercedes’ declining popularity among fans

Max Verstappen wasn’t sure

By the end of the qualifying, Verstappen reveals that it started raining on the circuit. And the 24-year-old wasn’t sure about making up to the pole.

Alright, alright, alright! 🤝 #USGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/neQl4FgDVl

— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) October 23, 2021

“It started drizzling at the end of my lap and I wasn’t sure I was going to hang on to it but it’s great to get pole,” says Max Verstappen. “To be P1 and P3 as a team I think was a very strong performance.”

Asked by Sky F1’s Danica Patrick about heading Hamilton on the front row tomorrow, Verstappen adds: “I guess that’s what people like. We just hope to have a good start and then work together as a team to get the best possible result.”

With the recent incredible performances by Red Bull across the weekend, they are touted as the frontrunners for the race.

Also read: How Red Bull climbed back to end Mercedes’ COTA advantage

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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