Lewis Hamilton says it took “blind faith” for him to listen to the team and go into the pits to switch to intermediate tyres in the last laps of the Russian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton won his 100th race in Russia, but he gives credit for the win to his team at Mercedes, who decided he had to switch to intermediate tyres after it started raining in the last laps of the race.
“Firstly I can’t take credit for that amazing decision; that was the team’s,” the Briton said.
“I think, for me, I was very much in no man’s land for a long time in terms of, I didn’t really know where I was in my race.
“I had no idea how far Lando was ahead… they were incredibly quick and he was doing a really great job.
“They called me in, and I was like: ‘He’s right there! I’ve only got three laps or so to catch up 24 seconds.’ I was like, ‘No way!’
“So, I wasn’t convinced the first lap. The next lap it rained more and I was definitely more convinced then, so I came in.
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“Just blind faith in the end. I put all my faith in the team and they called me in and I believed them. That’s part of our journey together.
“And it could have played out any way, but I think our team did a really great job in terms of understanding when the rain was coming and if it was going to get worse.
“And they were 100% right…”
McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was in front of Lewis at the time, made a decision to stick with medium tyres, a decision which ultimately cost him a possible win. Hamilton was asked if he felt that Norris deserved the win.
“Yes, for sure,” Lewis said.
“Look, he’s so young, he’s got so many more wins up ahead of him. He’s been doing a fantastic job, he did a fantastic job yesterday in the wet.
“He’s doing such a great job leading that team and McLaren have won the last race – they’ve been very hard to beat for us,” concluded the seven-time champion.