‘Max won?! Holy s**t’ – Lewis Hamilton discovers post-race Verstappen win in Qatar
Lewis Hamilton had no idea who won the race in Qatar until long after stepping out of the car.
Lewis Hamilton did not discover Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix until he was midway through his media interviews, commenting “holy s**t, I thought Piastri won.”
A couple of years ago, the winner of a race was not something that would have passed Hamilton by, but his struggles at the rear of the grid meant he was oblivious to who actually took the victory in Qatar.
Lewis Hamilton discovers late on who won Qatar GP
While Hamilton used to be a constant in any talk of the title, the days of him being a contender would appear long gone and as he counts down the races until the end of this season, he did not even spot who won the race in Qatar.
Speaking to the written media, including PlanetF1.com, after the race, Hamilton was asked for his thoughts on the final race title showdown.
Hamilton: “Oscar’s how far behind?”
Media: “16 now.”
Hamilton: “How’s Max 12 behind?”
Media: “Because Max won the race?”
Hamilton: “Max won?! Oh shoot, I didn’t know that. Wow, holy s**t. I thought Piastri won.”
After realising his mistake, Hamilton was asked for his thoughts on his former title rival and said that the Dutchman has hardly put a foot wrong.
“We all know Max does a great job,” Hamilton said. “I think he’s got a phenomenal team behind him, which there’s no denying that [they have] had the best car really over the last four years.
“Maybe less so at the beginning of this year, but they somehow came back, and it’s obviously got a great car, but he does an amazing job with it, so can’t fault him.”
More Qatar GP reaction from PlanetF1.com
👉 Lando Norris ‘still happy’ despite losing ground in title race to Max Verstappen
👉 ‘Speechless’ Oscar Piastri fumes at McLaren tactical mistake in Qatar GP
Hamilton also commented on the Lusail circuit after another race with few overtakes. The seven-time World Champion said he raised a point in the Drivers’ Briefing that the DRS zone should be extended.
“Being critical, when I was in Drivers’ Briefing, for example, I asked them the question,” he said.
“We’ve seen last year there was no overtaking, why not, for example, increase the DRS?
“And they’re like ‘oh, hmm, hadn’t thought of that.’ I’m like ‘what are you doing?’
“Then the pit lane is 26 seconds. If you go to the end of the pit lane, there’s a long space that’s just unnecessary to be the pit lane.
“It’s probably the worst race for us to go to, you know, when you can’t overtake. Beautiful place and really well hosted. So they’ve got to come up with some other solution.”
Read next: Qatar GP conclusions: Mindless McLaren, Piastri turns Norris tables, Hamilton bombshell?
