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Following criticism from old nemesis Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton said it was “pointless” to defend himself harder against title rival Max Verstappen.
Hamilton found himself on the other side of the same situation that unfolded in the fourth round in Barcelona, having to defend against a two-stop Max Verstappen who was able to pass in the penultimate round of the Grand Prix of France.
Hamilton’s overall defense against fighter Verstappen drew criticism from Sky F1 specialist Nico Rosberg as he felt his former teammate was too ‘soft’ to give up the lead.
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“Unusual of Lewis, shut that damn door, right?” Usually Lewis is like the best head-to-head runner and I’m surprised he didn’t try, Rosberg said.
“At least try to brake late and keep him on the outside, so Lewis’s a little slack sort of.”
The very first question Hamilton was asked at the post-race press conference inevitably concerned Rosberg’s comments, but Hamilton didn’t think there was anything particularly weak about his defense.
“First of all, there are marbles inside so I didn’t want my tires to be any worse than they already were,” said Hamilton as he explained his actions in the final stages of the Grand Prix. of France.
“He had opened the DRS so if he hadn’t passed me there he would’ve passed me down the straight afterwards so it wouldn’t have made any difference and I just didn’t have a before , so he would have gotten me anyway.
“There was no point in defending harder. I think you saw what happened to Valtteri ended up going straight.
“So there was no point in messing up the tires anymore.
“Two stops, probably two stops potentially would have done the job, but it was not planned at all for us, so do an analysis and try to understand why.”
But even if Hamilton had been tipped over on two saves, he still thinks it would have been very difficult to fend off Verstappen and Red Bull.
“I’m sure if we look back, it’s sure if we had stopped earlier, before they stopped, that they came out in front and we had just made a double stop, we probably could have won the race but it would still have been very difficult.
“Their pace was generally very, very strong. I was able to keep them at bay when he was behind me but if he hadn’t made a mistake in Turn 1 they probably would have led the race all the way, probably.
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