Lewis Hamilton reflects on his climb back from the 19th position to finishing 5th and the clever move which aided that.
The seven-time world champion delivered a remarkable recovery drive at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.
Having started from 19th due to engine penalties before manoeuvring his way through the field to finish in fifth place.
Thanks to the clever strategy and a particularly dramatic pass, the British driver earned 10 points for a fifth-place finish. While teammate George Russell started second and finished third.
A Daniel Ricciardo-led DRS train had formed early on, so Hamilton planned to start on the Medium tires and run long at Monza.
On Lap 34 of 53, he pitted to exchange for a new set of Softs and came out in 12th place while still stuck in the Ricciardo train.
Two laps later, Norris who was on a similar strategy, pitted too. While other drivers pitted for fresh tires during the late-race safety car period, Hamilton stayed out. “My tires didn’t feel bad,” he said. “I felt like I could keep the temperature in them.”
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Hamilton on his brilliant double overtake
A crucial moment on Hamilton’s ascent to fifth came when he pulled off a brilliant double overtake on Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly on the run to Curva Grande.
As the AlphaTauri and McLaren fought over position, Hamilton gained two places – and swiftly passed Ricciardo for sixth. Which then turned into a fifth as Sergio Perez made a second pitstop.
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He said that his late pass on Lando Norris was instrumental in his pursuit of fifth place.
“This was a key move” He explained. “Because I think if I hadn’t pulled that off, then I would have been two places back, [It’s] just about timing, and you don’t always get it right.”
“I saw Lando coming out and I was like: ‘This is the one moment we have the chance. Unfortunately for him, he was getting challenged by someone else [Gasly] around the outside, so I cut across and it felt great.”
Hamilton, who finished the race in fifth place, admitted that if the race had continued, he might have faced threat from rivals behind.
“I wanted to be able to challenge the Ferrari ahead of me and see if I could get another position,” he said.
“But I think in hindsight it was probably a good ending. I’m really grateful to have come back from the last row.”
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