Lewis Hamilton Ferrari radio: Full Barcelona victory message emerges
Lewis Hamilton is off the mark as a Ferrari race winner
An understandably emotional Lewis Hamilton apologised that “I keep talking” as he addressed Ferrari, his family and his fans after the chequered flag in Barcelona.
Hamilton has been in resurgent form over the past month, and reached a new milestone at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix by taking his first win in Ferrari colours. Hamilton’s full post-race team radio transcript has emerged, as he reacted to the achievement.
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari radio transcript after Barcelona victory
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Hamilton went for a three-stop strategy in Barcelona, a decision which paid off in a major way.
With track position at the time Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin came to a stop, Hamilton was able to pit under the resulting Virtual Safety Car. He boxed and returned to the track still P1, ahead of the Mercedes.
Hamilton pulled away from there to win by 19.5 seconds from George Russell.
Such was Hamilton’s pace ahead of that VSC, Martin Brundle felt that the Ferrari driver would have still won the race on his three-stopper without it.
For Hamilton, his recent performances are night and day compared to an underwhelming first season with Ferrari. After back-to-back P2s in Montreal and Monaco, Hamilton has taken the next step by becoming a Ferrari Grand Prix winner.
A standout feature of Hamilton’s resurgence has been his positive relationship with new race engineer Carlo Santi, who could be heard congratulating his driver over team radio after the chequered flag in Barcelona.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur also made an appearance to acknowledge ‘Luigi’ on his achievement.
Hamilton’s emotional response played out, in full, as below:
“Woo! Ciao ragazzi.
“Grazie a tutti a Maranello.
“Thank you so much. You helped me achieve this dream and I just can’t thank you enough. Thank you for everyone pushing so hard back at home. I’m so proud of you.
“And to my family, I love you.
“And to the fans, thank you for continuing to remind me who I am. Couldn’t have done this without you. Grazie.
“Let’s go! Forza Ferrari! Forza Ferrari!”
Hamilton added: “Guys, thank you for those great pit-stops as well.
“Sorry I keep talking! I’m so proud of you, thank you.”
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Having spoken of the fans reminding him who he is, Hamilton, in the post-race press conference, was asked whether he believes that he has reminded Ferrari who he is with this upturn in form.
“I don’t really feel that I’ve had to remind the team,” he replied. “They’ve been so kind. You come back to the garage after a difficult race and they just say like, ‘Don’t worry, next time.’ They’re just so supportive through it all.
“But for sure, results like this change everything and for sure reinstate, if there is a lack of confidence, reinstates it all.
“And I hope that this was a convincing gap and race, but I think it’s been happening over the last few races. The changes that I’ve asked for and pushed for all last year have been made and I now have the right team around me, I now have the right car around me, and now I can start doing what I do best.”
Hamilton is up to second in the Drivers’ standings after Barcelona. He is 41 points behind Championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
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