Lewis Hamilton admitted that he made a mistake ‘taking too much front wing’ out of his Mercedes car ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix, but made clear his satisfaction with a P4 finish.
The seven-time world champion started the race from sixth on the grid but benefitted from Max Verstappen’s 20-second time penalty, before making his way past team-mate George Russell following an exciting battle that unfolded over 10 laps later in the race.
While his performance was impressive, Mercedes were still miles off the pace of rivals Ferrari and McLaren. The Silver Arrows star was also hindered by a mistake on his side, made during the set-up procedure ahead of the race.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 about his race, Hamilton explained: “Firstly, really good to get fourth and fifth. I’m happy that I was able to move forward and just have a better weekend than the last and see it through all the way to the end of the race and get those points.
“I’m really grateful for that and happy with the performance in general. I got a good start and then I had a lot of understeer because… my fault, but I took too much front wing out of the car.
“And I had knocked out the front tyres basically in that first stint. And after the changes, after the pit stop, [it was] much, much better.
“But it was a really, really insightful and informative race because I could feel exactly where the car was working and where it was not. It is very, very clear in my mind where the car is giving up and I could see the difference between George and I when I’m behind.
“So it will be interesting to see… they have now all of this information from both of our cars running. So good points, good data for both of us and hopefully [it will] put us in a better position for the next race.”
Mercedes will now wait with bated breath as they prepare for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Sao Paulo has offered mixed fortunes to the Silver Arrows lately – the Brackley-based team won there in 2022 but suffered a miserable weekend last time around in 2023.
