Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic battle with his future Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc for P5 during the Sprint race at the 2024 F1 Qatar Grand Prix. The seven-time F1 world champion made a brilliant getaway from P7 as he passed Max Verstappen and Leclerc off the line to move into P5.
He solidified his position and even challenged the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in P4 but wasn’t able to sustain it as he pushed a bit too hard with his tires. The dropoff put him into the clutches of Leclerc, who closed the gap and got into the DRS range of the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton fought wheel-to-wheel against his future teammate heading into Turn 1 but was eventually passed through Turn 3. He did come back in the fight during the fast Turn 4 but eventually conceded the position.
In his post-race interview with Sky Sports, Charles Leclerc gave his take on the battle with the 39-year-old and reflected:
“We were really on the edge. I fought with Lewis until the end. There was a nice move at the end, we clashed wheels a bit. It was fun.”
Lewis Hamilton analyzes his Sprint race at Qatar GP
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he was looking forward to the “winter break” after finishing P6 in the Sprint race on Saturday at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Hamilton reflected on his race and said:
“I have no clue, man. I don’t have an answer for you. It’s not been great, at this point, I really don’t care, I just wanna get through these next couple of races. I’m looking forward to the winter break.”
“The most important thing is to lead with gratitude so I’m really really grateful that I get to do what I love doing, even when there are days I don’t love it as much and I’m really lucky to be here. It’s painful when it doesn’t go well, no one likes losing but that’s part of the journey.”
Lewis Hamilton will have another chance to improve his position as the qualifying later on Saturday could be crucial ahead of the main race given the importance of track position at the Lusail International Circuit.
