© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
An exhausted Lewis Hamilton explains why he was the only person on the grid for the standing restart and gives his thoughts on the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Hungarian Grand Prix was red flagged on Lap 1 following a big collision caused by Valtteri Bottas. When it was time to do the standing restart, all the drivers entered the pits to change their tyres from intermediate to dry compounds.
All except Lewis Hamilton that is. In a surreal scene, Lewis was the only person on the grid for the standing restart. He then entered the pits on his first lap and dropped to the back of the field.
Ultimately he was able to make his way through the field and finish in P3, and regain the championship lead from Max Verstappen in the process.
After the race, a visibly exhausted Lewis gave his thoughts to the media.
“First of all, congratulations to Alpine and Ocon,” the Briton said.
“He has been a shining star for some time so it has been a long time coming and I am really, really happy for him.
“Great to see Aston Martin up there, their best result and there is more to come.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
“Otherwise, we have had an amazing crowd this weekend. Today was definitely tough, we always make it difficult for ourselves.
“Crazy to think we were the only ones on the grid at the start but these things happen and we learn from them. I gave it everything and I had nothing left at the end.
“I was telling the team how the track was through the lap but they said the rain was coming when we got in the car so I thought they had other information. I saw everyone diving in. Anyways.”
Lewis was then asked how it felt to regain the lead in the championship before the summer break.
“Yeah, we came here this weekend, definitely didn’t know how it was going to go and considering the circumstances today, I will take it,” concluded the seven-time champion.
After this Lewis was taken to the team’s doctor for “suffering from fatigue and mild dizziness”.
