Hamilton: I hope the next three circuits suit us

Lewis Hamilton finished third at Spielberg and took the podium for the third weekend in a row. At a press conference after the finish, the Mercedes driver spoke about his race, assessed the car’s speed and commented on the latest developments in Formula 1.

Q: Lewis, you are on the podium for the third time in a row and fourth of the season. Are you satisfied with this result, given the eighth starting position?
Lewis Hamilton: I am very satisfied, although I drove almost the entire race alone – Max and Charles had a lead of about thirty seconds. But on the straights, I saw their fight on big TV screens. I saw them ride all the way to the sixth corner and at that point I was just coming out of the first. You could say I watched what happened through the eyes of a fan and saw several overtakes in the replay.

However, the weekend turned out to be difficult, given my accident. The team has put a lot of effort into restoring the car and achieving such a great result. I am very grateful.

Question At Silverstone, your car was almost the fastest on the track. How competitive was the W13 in Austria?
Lewis Hamilton: We are not yet in a situation where we can call our car the fastest – the rivals are still ahead, but sometimes we manage to show the same speed. At one point we were ahead, but so far this is not our position, so we have to keep working.

This weekend we improved the car again, but as Austria has a different track, for some reason the rivals were a bit ahead, especially in race pace. I hope that the next three tracks will please us and that the joining of forces will be more like Silverstone. If so, then I’d love to join the battle ahead.

Q: Did the orange smoke from the fireworks from the grandstand bother you during the race?
Lewis Hamilton: Only on the warm up lap when I didn’t see the apex of Turn 7. And at the end of the race – I saw nothing in the sixth corner! Luckily this didn’t happen during the race, but maybe the fans were just saving the fireworks for the finish? I find it hard to believe that none of this has any impact on the environment in any way.

Question This weekend there were reports of insults to the fans. How much does it bother you? Does Formula 1 really have this problem?
Lewis Hamilton: In the morning I woke up in a good mood, but I was shocked when I heard about such things. People come for the weekend to have a good time, to have a great experience. Of course there are a lot of fans in the stands in orange, and during the parade of drivers it is difficult to see our neon caps, but the fact that someone in the stands is insulted just because they support another driver … It It’s just crazy that this is happening in 2022.

We must continue to act. It all has to do with education and ignorance. We need to work together, use all platforms to bring a positive attitude. Fans should come to the stands and feel safe, cheer for whoever they want. Your gender, sexual orientation or skin color shouldn’t matter – everyone should be able to have fun.

Q: You wear a mask all the time this weekend. What is it connected to?
Lewis HamiltonA: This is my personal choice. Much of my environment is sick and I don’t want to get sick again – I’ve been sick twice already. Many friends write to me that they have Covid and some of them feel unwell. For this reason, there was no Bono on the track this weekend. [Петер Боннингтон, гоночный инженер Льюса]†

No one wears a mask, but I chose to wear one. People can do whatever they want. Ultimately it’s their health, but I want to go home healthy and be able to train and do what I love to do. I try to protect the people around me and those I love.