Lewis Hamilton, who won his seventh world Formula 1 title, revealed his true health conditions. He was affected by COVID-19 and had to miss race at Shakir Grand Prix.
He was replaced by George Russel, whose performance was outstanding. However, hard luck pushed him down from podium to ninth position.
The champion confessed that his performance at the last race of season was below expectations. He blamed COVID effects on his health, which continued to afflict his performance.
Hamilton conceded to the fact that coronavirus has hurt his performance at Abu Dhahbi Grand Prix. Nonetheless, he managed to find himself on podium besides Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen took his first pole at Yas Marina Circuit and dominated the race leading himself to victory. Bottas stood second while Hamilton at third.
“That was a really hard race for me,” he said.
“All year physically I’ve been fine, but today I definitely wasn’t. So I’m just glad it’s over.”
Read More: Verstappen irked by Mercedes dominance
Hamilton shared his feeling on how COVID hurt his form, he said: “My body is not feeling great, but look on the bright side I made it through. I didn’t think anytime last week that I’ll be here.
“So, I’m just really truly grateful for my health and to be alive, and looking forward to recovering over the next period of time we have.
“Then get back into training and get my body back to where I know it should be.”.
Verstappen outperformed Hamilton
Red Bull at Abu Dhahbi surprised Mercedes with its speed. Verstappen outperformed both Mercedes’ drivers and was left unchallenged.
Bottas said: “I think Red Bull was too quick today. Surprisingly quick.
“We thought the race pace would be pretty identical but yeah they could really control the race and the gap when needed. I was trying everything I could but couldn’t keep up with them.”
Hamilton added: “The Red Bulls I think this weekend were just too far out of reach for us. We just couldn’t hold on to the pace that they had.”
Alex Albon at last stages managed to closed down on Hamilton, but was unable to find himself on podium. However, he was praised by the World Champion.
“It was a fantastic job to see Alex right up there with us,” he said.
“We were having a two team battle which is I think what the sport needs.”
1 Comment