Hamilton had to ‘alter driving style’ in Spain

Michelle Foster
Toto Wolff understands why fans are angry with Mercedes' dominance, but says the team are in Formula 1 for a reason.

Toto Wolff understands why fans are angry with Mercedes' dominance, but says the team are in Formula 1 for a reason.

Lewis Hamilton’s Spanish GP win may have seemed effortless, however, the Brit has revealed he had to “alter” his driving style to get the most out of his W10 and its tyres.

Hamilton was disappointed after losing out on pole position to Valtteri Bottas on Saturday.

More concerning, though, for the five-time World Champion was the fact that he lost pole by six-tenths of a second.

However, 24 hours later he redeemed himself as he raced to a third successive Spanish Grand Prix win, his 76th career P1.

Hamilton led home Bottas in yet another Mercedes 1-2, although after the first few corners it never once looked as if the Finn could challenge for the win.

“This is history in the making to have five one-twos,” said Hamilton. “Today was about trying to redeem myself from my poor performance yesterday.

“Yesterday was a bit of a nightmare, but race pace has generally been quite good for me, I’ve been really happy, comfortable generally in the races.

“When we went out to do the laps to the grid, I wasn’t very happy with the balance still, so I had to make some changes, had to alter my driving style a little bit, but it worked well in the race scenario.

“I couldn’t go into detail on why it doesn’t work on a single lap, and that may take some time.

“Normally with tyres I’m pretty good but I think that’s a weak area.

“It’s not that I can’t do it, I’ve just got to discover it. That’s what I’ll put some effort towards.”

Hamilton’s victory was set up following a very brief battle for the lead off the line.

Although Bottas started from pole position, it was the Brit who made the faster start and challenged his team-mate, and won, into Turn 1.

“It’s respectful and balanced, as we always are,” he said of that tussle.

“The team has spoken a bit, Valtteri and I have spoken a bit, that we have the best pairing any team has.

“In terms of how respectful we are – a lot of drivers don’t have that respect.

“I think today I was well and truly on the inside [at Turn 1].”

He added: “It was a great battle and a decisive moment.”

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