'Hamilton was one of the quickest people in that last stint'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Alpine was the surprise winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Esteban Ocon managed to avoid damage during the first corner and then saw Lewis Hamilton's team make a mistake, taking the victory. Teammate Fernando Alonso, however, played an important role in this.
The experienced Spaniard has been back driving in Formula 1 since this season and once again showed his class in Hungary. Alonso was running in fourth position with Hamilton behind him trying to get into the top three. The British driver did not have an easy time catching up with his former teammate, however, although he eventually did succeed.
Hamilton in battle with Alonso
However, because Hamilton took so long to get past Alonso, he ran out of time to finish first. According to Alan Perman, Alpine's sporting director, Hamilton would have taken the full points otherwise. "100%, undoubtedly crucial. It was 11 laps that Hamilton was behind him I believe, and if he’d got past him on the first lap like he got past Carlos Sainz on the first time, I’m sure Lewis would have been there," Perman explained on the official website of Formula 1.
Hamilton was certainly not having his best race of his career in Hungary, but had a much faster car than the drivers around him. "Don’t forget, Hamilton pitted as one of the last people so he had very fresh tyres, he was one of the quickest people in that last stint."