Austrian F1 racing is like karting at Rye House

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Having qualified fifth for Sunday’s Grand Prix, Hamilton endured a disastrous Saturday pre-race penalty shootout, losing his best Q1 time to track limits, then caught up with Max Verstappen on what could have been his last flying lap.

That left him 18th on the grid, and after a charged midfield race that included a charge after a pit stop for slick tyres, he crossed the points line in tenth.

“It was fun,” he said when asked by Autosport about the afternoon. “I just laughed, and was enjoying myself. It was like being around Rye House on a normal weekend, just having a good time.”

“I had a great first lap. And then generally the balance of the car just struggled. When you get wet it highlights the issues you have with the car, which doesn’t give you confidence.

“But otherwise, I moved down the sweet route too late. I don’t really like to gamble, and I didn’t, so I paid for it. But other than that, I’m relatively happy with it.”

Hamilton admitted some frustration with the potential result he lost when he had to start 18th: “I think I was relatively fast this morning. So I think it would have been easy to be in the top five.

And then in the race today I probably would have been on the podium, or as close to the podium as the general speed we had. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“And so we just had fun in the race, dropped a few points, but it’s not the most important day today. We have a lot of learning. So hopefully we can take that into tomorrow.”

On the W14’s shape, he added: “I mean, we haven’t made much progress this weekend. We’re way behind this weekend than we’ve been in the past. But yeah, it’s still the same car. We’ll just have to keep chopping it away.”

Changes to the sprint regulations have made this season’s Saturday a stand-alone event, and the grid no longer dictates the result for a Grand Prix.

Despite his difficult day, Hamilton said: “It’s good to have something different. When we usually only have Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the same thing every season – Jesus!”

“I think it’s great to have something different. Today is kind of a good day. I hope tomorrow will be better.”

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