Formula 1, Dutch Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton apologizes to Mercedes team for angry radio outburst
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has apologized for an overzealous radio broadcast at his Mercedes team when hopes of a first win of the Formula One season vanished at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday. Japan.
The British took the lead until a late safety auto phase forced him to defend with slower tires than his opponent, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen roaring past in the restart to take home the win. win for the home team.
Hamilton finished in fourth, with teammate George Russell in second.
“I’m on the verge of bursting with emotion and my apology to the team because I don’t even remember what I said, I just lost it for a second,” he told Sky Sports TV channel.
“But I think they know that there’s a lot of passion and I like to look at it like a glass half full,” added the 103-race winner.
Hamilton has won a race in every season he competes in since his debut in 2007, but that record is in danger of ending as Verstappen takes his 10th win in 15 races and advances to the second title.
The disappointment was much greater as Mercedes sensed that Zandvoort presented a real opportunity, even as Verstappen started in front of the home crowd.
“I really hope that we get one-two as a team,” said Hamilton, who hasn’t won since Saudi Arabia last December.
“In the end it was there, within our reach but of course after that the safety car really didn’t help.
“Without the safety car, I think we would have challenged them (Red Bull) for the final win at a stop that I don’t think the others could have done.”
Team leader Toto Wolff said he understood why Hamilton was so upset.
“You have feelings. So am I in the race and when you’re at the helm in the car, it’s going to jump out of you and you can’t even stop it,” he said.
“We (the whole team) are the trash cans, the sick bags in the plane and we are taking all of that because we need it. That’s how it’s always been in the relationship between the frustrated driver and the bunker wall. “
