Hamilton: I’m happy that McLaren and Ferrari have improved

In Singapore, Lewis Hamilton finished third and was pleased with the weekend’s results…

Question: Lewis, do you think the decision to make a pit stop during the virtual safety car was right?
Lewis Hamilton: I think so. We had to take an opportunity to try to regain some places and fight for the win.

The team did a great job. We were fast. It looks like George was second at the time, if I were him I would have tried to keep the McLaren behind me. But we tried. It was fun chasing these guys, but it was hard to outrun them.

Question: How much faster were you than George on the last lap?
Lewis Hamilton: About half a second per lap. But overtaking is difficult here, you need to have a lead of one and a half seconds. What was surprising was that the Hard tires weren’t as slow as we thought. And our tires were severely worn trying to catch up.

Question: Lewis, if you hadn’t had to give up two positions at the start of the race, would you have been able to win?
Lewis Hamilton: Carlos was very fast. I don’t think we could have won. Although our car was very strong. If I had qualified better on Saturday, started third or from the front row, I would have had more chances.

I have to do better. But I am very grateful to the team for the hard work that everyone continues to do. Great pit stops from the guys in the pits, great work all weekend, great strategy. I think we are making progress. Now we have to move on.

Q: Lewis, you’ve found yourself in different situations more than once during your career. What’s the difference between figuring everything out in a tense situation and doing everything wrong like your partner? What should you do to stay calm and achieve a good result?
Lewis Hamilton: We all try to do it perfectly, down to the millimeter, but on a difficult track it is very, very easy to make a mistake, very easy for any of us to end up in the position that George was in. He had a phenomenal weekend and was just unlucky on the last lap.

George continues to grow and improve, he will get stronger and faster and if I can help in any way I will be a part of that for years to come. But yes, I have a lot of experience, I have been here for a long time, but last year I made a mistake in turn seven, went off and hit the wall. This could happen to any of us.

Question: Red Bull had problems this weekend, many fans will probably call this stage the best race of the season. Is there any hope that this is the beginning of the end of Red Bull and Verstappen’s dominance?
Lewis Hamilton: I haven’t really followed the other drivers this weekend and I don’t know why they’re falling behind. But I’m happy that McLaren have picked up a great pace, it’s great to see that Ferrari has improved. This is all very positive.

Red Bull may no longer be working on the car. I know McLaren has brought new products here, others are also preparing updates and Red Bull is working on next year’s car. They have less time in the wind tunnel, so they will probably use some of this year’s work for next year. Their championship lead is so big that they can afford it.

Q: Lewis, another fantastic performance – and the 196th podium of his career. Will you be able to surpass the podium position of 200 by the end of the year?
Lewis Hamilton: God! 200 stages! Guys, you haven’t held a 196 Grand Prix yet. I was lucky to work with great people and incredibly talented specialists. I am very grateful to them for helping me reach these stages. I don’t know where we will be in the next races, but this weekend…

This weekend the speed of the car allowed us to compete in the top three. And it would be interesting to see what will happen on the next songs. Yes, I hope I can win at least one more podium this year. It would be great.