Lewis, beginning on Hards, overtook Alonso on lap 1 and moved as much as tenth place. On the identical lap the Security Automotive was deployed following Oscar Piastri’s accident.
On the restart, Charles, on Mediums, handed Lando Norris after which Isack Hadjar, for seventh place. On lap 7 Lewis handed Hadjar for ninth making good use of his DRS. On lap 20 Charles pitted for Hards to undercut Norris, and rejoined the race in twelfth, after which he received caught behind Lawson for a very long time, additionally hampered barely by a minor PU challenge. On lap 37 Lewis pitted for Mediums and got here out behind Charles. With 10 laps to go Norris overtook Charles who was eighth at that time, Charles and Lewis swapped place as Lewis had extra in his tyres to go after Norris however he was unable to mount an assault so the crew plan was to swap again on the final lap, nevertheless in the long run there was inadequate time to do that and on the chequered flag, Lewis was eighth, with Charles proper behind him in ninth.
Lewis Hamilton: It is not the outcome we had been aiming for and naturally it is disappointing. I felt extra snug within the automotive at this time and the steadiness was a lot better, nevertheless it was troublesome to shut on the vehicles forward as they’d robust tempo.
Qualifying is at all times key and we did not maximise it this weekend. Our setup selection and execution in quali weren’t best, and that left us additional again than we should always have been. Preventing for eighth and ninth would not mirror the potential we had if every thing had come collectively.
We will be targeted on how we will enhance our qualifying efficiency over the approaching weeks. The crew and the pit crew did an amazing job at this time and I am grateful for his or her arduous work. We’ll regroup and are available again stronger in Singapore.
Charles Leclerc: At present, what mattered was being on the fitting technique, within the sense that some vehicles began on Hards and others on Mediums, and crucial factor was to seek out your self within the quicker group of vehicles who had been on the identical tyres as you, so as to have the ability to battle your manner ahead. I used to be caught behind Liam (Lawson) for many of the second stint. He was on a distinct technique with the Mediums and I used to be on Hards at that time, so I could not overtake him. I additionally had a small challenge on my PU, which affected my tempo for just a few laps.
On the finish of the day, what had the largest affect on our race was our qualifying outcome. I made a mistake in Q3 and ended up ranging from P10. Going for a P8 or P9 in a race will not be my goal, and these aren’t positions I’m involved in combating for. We’ve got to reset and are available again stronger within the upcoming races. The temperatures had been colder than ever earlier than in Baku this time round, which has impacted our efficiency in the best way we had been capable of work our tyres. Issues ought to look higher in hotter temperatures, so I am trying ahead to Singapore and hope we will likely be in higher form there.
Congratulations to Carlos (Sainz) for his first podium with Williams, he had a powerful weekend and I am completely satisfied for him.
Fred Vasseur, Staff Principal: We can’t be happy with eighth and ninth. We began behind Norris and we completed behind him, which is the truth of this monitor. We had a difficulty with Charles’ engine which we’ll now examine and, even when it was marginal, it was sufficient to forestall him from having the ability to overtake in a straight line, which explains why we had been caught behind Lawson. The principle remorse is for yesterday, as a result of we had the tempo to do a a lot better job in qualifying and that is the place the weekend received away from us. It is encouraging that the tempo was there, however irritating that we didn’t capitalise on it as a result of you’ve got two elements of the job: one is pure efficiency and the opposite is your execution. By way of efficiency we made a step ahead after Spa, however to be P10 and P12 yesterday was not what we anticipated. Now we have to perceive what we might have finished higher, as a result of we made some mistake, some poor decisions. I do know Charles is accepting the duty for qualifying, however we have to work on our execution to return again stronger.
