Lewis Hamilton endured a frustrating time at the Japanese GP
Lewis Hamilton displayed his exasperation during the Japanese Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc overtook him on the straights. He subsequently reported losing pace to the leading five drivers, although a strategic decision to prolong his opening stint appeared to work in his favour when a safety car provided an economical pit stop opportunity.
The 41-year-old momentarily overtook George Russell at the restart, positioning himself for consecutive podium finishes, but ultimately dropped to P6 as Leclerc, Russell and Lando Norris all passed him. During the race, Hamilton was repeatedly heard voicing concerns about losing time in the straight-line portions.
Hamilton was heard questioning his engineer, Carlo Santi: “Charles just caught me down the back straight. Why?”
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Lewis Hamilton endured a frustrating time at the Japanese GP
Lewis Hamilton displayed his exasperation during the Japanese Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc overtook him on the straights. He subsequently reported losing pace to the leading five drivers, although a strategic decision to prolong his opening stint appeared to work in his favour when a safety car provided an economical pit stop opportunity.
The 41-year-old momentarily overtook George Russell at the restart, positioning himself for consecutive podium finishes, but ultimately dropped to P6 as Leclerc, Russell and Lando Norris all passed him. During the race, Hamilton was repeatedly heard voicing concerns about losing time in the straight-line portions.
Hamilton was heard questioning his engineer, Carlo Santi: “Charles just caught me down the back straight. Why?”
Speaking after the race, Hamilton confessed: “It was a demanding race. Clearly not the result I wanted.
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Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in the Japanese Grand Prix
“My first stint went well in terms of tyre management, but I simply didn’t have the pace to compete. The focus now is on understanding why and finding ways to improve.
“With a month before the next race, we’ll use the time to analyse every detail from these first three races and make sure we come back stronger.”
His sixth-place finish marks his poorest performance of the season to date.
