© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
After finishing second in the Dutch Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton praised Max Verstappen and Red Bull who “definitely were faster today”.
A combination of Mercedes’ strategy and pit stop mistakes, coupled with Red Bull’s amazing pace, made it impossible for Lewis to finish higher than second at the Dutch Grand Prix.
After the race the Briton congratulated his title rivals.
“I think ultimately congrats to Max, they just did a better job all round, they definitely were faster today,” said Hamilton.
“There wasn’t a lot I could do to answer the lap times he was doing already in stint one already, it was very hard to keep up, and I think Max was just managing whereas I was flat out just trying to stay as close as possible.
“I think today we needed everything to be perfect to have the slightest chance to pass him on strategy.
“Pit stops needed to be on point, start and traffic also, but none of those three were ideal today, but nonetheless as a team we got second and third.
“Some really good points on them on the constructors, that’s a super important one, and we’ll come back next week fighting.”
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However, overall Lewis says he loved the whole weekend at Zandvoort.
“I think they’ve taken a bit of a step ahead but otherwise, just what a weekend! The crowd has been insane all weekend.
“The British crowd is naturally my favourite, but these guys, the energy here has been crazy.
“And where this track’s better than Silverstone is the grandstands there are so far away and we need binoculars but here they’re right on the track like the olden days.
“We need that to be [the same for] the crowd in other places too,” concluded the seven-time champion.
Valtteri Bottas who took third, agrees with Lewis that Red Bull had the upper hand today.
“I think, like Lewis said, Red Bull and Max had the upper hand on the pure pace today,” the Finn said.
“For me, from quite early on, I was committed to one stop, so I knew that meant I couldn’t push the tyres too much, managing mainly in the high-speed corners.
“We tried to play the long game, but it was quite a bit slower today, I would say, to try and do a one-stop,” concluded Bottas.
