“Where does that lap time come from”– Lewis Hamilton reacts to super lap by Max Verstappen

“Where does that lap time come from”– Lewis Hamilton, shocked by the magnificent performance by Max Verstappen in FP1 of the British GP.

Lewis Hamilton was left shocked by Max Verstappen’s blistering pace in the Free Practice 1 of the British Grand Prix, where the Dutch obliterated his competitors with a comprehensive margin.

Verstappen’s time of 1:27.035s prompted Lewis Hamilton, then seven-tenths down, to exclaim, “where does that [lap time] come from?” displaying his shock at the pace by Verstappen with the team radio.

After this, the Briton once again tried another flying lap but couldn’t even reach near the timing set by Verstappen and had to settle with a P3 after the end of the session.

This happened despite Mercedes calling in upgrades for this week to compete against Red Bull more closely, but it doesn’t seem to help so far. Hamilton right now stands 32 points behind Verstappen in the championship race.

Weekend is long

However, things are not as bad for Mercedes, they are hanging only an inch behind Red Bull, and the Brackley based team can take away the advantage with a little slip-up.

Additionally, after two years, fans are back in Silverstone, and it is Hamilton’s home, where he gets immense support. Thr Briton has won seven times at his home venue, but Verstappen managed to beat the Mercedes duo last year during the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

Therefore, with the concept of the sprint races also kicking in, it is hard to predict the course of events for the rest of the week, and Mercedes and Red Bull can be at par with each other.

At the time of this article being written, the Q2 of qualifying just got over and Hamilton was only 0.098s behind Verstrappen’s P1 timing, displaying the fine margins.