Baku was one of the turning points of last season. Ferrari’ Sebastian Vettel, it will be remembered, he had lost his nerves and deliberately buffed Lewis Hamilton’s car, which earned him a 10-second penalty for dangerous driving.
After the race, the tension was rising between the two Formula One drivers. Hamilton even thought that Vettel had attracted the disgrace of the middle.
Ten months later, resentment seems to have calmed down considerably. The Mercedes’ Hamilton does not really think that really much about the personality of his rival Ferrari.
“Not much really, it’s good to see fire within the rivals that you’re competing with, it’s also good to see that they’re not perfect because I guess nobody’s perfect,” Hamilton told to journalist.
“He’s continued to progress as the champion that he is. How he presents himself, how he speaks, he continued to grow and the words that he uses today.” Hamilton added.
As evidenced by this growing mutual respect, Vettel defended Lewis Hamilton at a press conference in Bahrain, while he was questioned about a possible controversial controversy between Max Verstappen and him.
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton crashed at Azerbaijan GP in 2017. (Sumber:www.motorlat.com)
However, this year Hamilton and Mercedes could not have been dominated as much. They are yet to win from three series.
“The others have definitely stepped up. We’ve made a step forward but they have made a bigger leap,” Hamilton said.
“Coming to the end of last year, all the teams were a lot closer at the last race. It’s always easier to catch up but to be pioneering, which we have been for the last four years, has been exceptional.
“Our team must work 100% to stay ahead. These are small, small percentages that will make the difference. We are still the same team that has won these last four years. We can really fight against these guys.
“Now we have Red Bull at its best, or almost, and Ferrari at its best. If we can raise the pace and perform as well as in previous years, then that would be the greatest achievement in this team’s history.” Hamilton added.
The 33-year-old driver has reported challenges getting new F1 tyres to work at next round with the Mercedes W09.
“We are still trying to understand the tyres. One weekend, we get there, but at the next weekend we can not do it, and the tire performance greatly affects everyone’s performance.” Hamilton said.
“The car was great to drive in the last race but it did not perform at its normal level anyway. But I think tires are a variable that comes into play [to explain this lack of performance]. If we can overcome this tire problem, we will be able to show the real performance of the car.” he added.
