Lewis Hamilton earned a last grasp third place finish at the Bahrain GP and race winner Charles Leclerc was surprised to see him there.
The 2022 season opener got off to a relatively quiet start for Mercedes. This was before Red Bull’s misfortune played to their and Hamilton’s advantage.
Max Verstappen’s car had to be retired due to a fuel pump issue, followed by Sergio Perez’s car (for the same reason). This allowed Hamilton to pounce and take home an unexpected third place finish.
Meanwhile, Ferrari’s start to the campaign could not have been better. The Italian outfit earned a 1-2 finish with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz taking first and second respectively. This was their first race victory since Singapore in 2019.
Also read: Toto Wolff reveals what Mercedes will do to improve car performance at the Saudi Arabian GP
After the race, when the drivers got out of their car, Leclerc seemed fairly surprised to see Hamilton there. The Monegasque spent most of the race defending his lead against Verstappen, and a last grasp podium finish for the 37-year old wasn’t in anyone’s books.
Hamilton got out of his W13, and congratulated a jubilant Leclerc on the win. At first, Leclerc didn’t say anything, but when Hamilton was walking back after exchanging a handshake with Sainz, the Ferrari driver said, “You f**king finished third!”
Lewis: “Congrats, dude!”
Charles: “You f**king finished third!”
😆😆😆 pic.twitter.com/Wz2kd6rkaN
— Ky (@FiftyBucksVT) March 20, 2022
Hamilton congratulates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on their win
Ferrari’s return to glory was a long time coming. It’s still early days in the 2022 F1 season, but everything points towards the Maranello outfit going in the right direction.
Being the most successful team in F1 history, many wanted them to see them return to winning ways. It turns out, Hamilton is one of them. Speaking to the media after the race, the Mercedes driver said he’s happy about Ferrari’s return to prominence.
“So happy to see them doing well again,” he said. “They’re such a historic epic team so it’s great to see Charles and Carlos up there.”
Great start to the season. We gave it our all and ended up with the best result we could have. Well done to the Ferraris, great to see them share the podium. Big week of work ahead but I know we got this pic.twitter.com/p3HXaIR1XF
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) March 20, 2022
“This is really the best result we could have got. Of course, it was unfortunate for the other two drivers but we did the best we could and we’re grateful for these points. ”
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will be looking to make further progress at the Saudi Arabian GP next weekend.