F1 Spanish GP is “the worst race I’ve experienced”

Lewis Hamilton has described the Spanish Grand Prix as “the worst race I’ve experienced” after finishing sixth in the Formula 1 contest at Barcelona.

The seven-time world champion was in an extremely downbeat mood, having crossed the line two spots lower than he started before gaining a position post-race due to Max Verstappen’s 10s penalty.

This was despite a good start from Hamilton, who took fourth from George Russell at Turn 1 but subsequently struggled for pace until the end.

On lap 10 he was instructed by Ferrari to let his faster team-mate Charles Leclerc overtake, before Hamilton dropped to seventh behind both Mercedes cars through the pitstop cycle.

Although Hamilton eventually regained sixth due to Andrea Kimi Antonelli retiring late on, he dropped to seventh again after Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg moved by along the start-finish straight during the penultimate lap.

Hamilton was therefore in no mood to talk afterwards and delivered a very short interview in the media pen, which went as follows:

Q: “Tricky, tricky afternoon for you, and then you got stuck on used tyres at the end. I guess you were a bit of a sitting duck there. A bit frustrating, wasn’t it?”

Hamilton: “Everyone was on the same tyres.”

Q: “Where was the pace, though? You were talking about no rear grip from fairly early on, and that was the whole story, was it?”

Hamilton: “It naturally is.”

Q: “I don’t think you were able to keep the gap. Does the car feel better at any stage of the race, or is it just the others?”

Hamilton: “I have no idea why you’d say that.”

Q: “Not one single clue. With all your experience.”

Hamilton: “It’s the worst race I’ve experienced.”

Q: “Any positives you can extract for the weekend. So what’s the plan between now and Canada? What are you going to look at, work on with the team, simulate it?”

Hamilton: “I’m going on it.”

Q: “So where do you go from here?”

Hamilton: “Home.”

Leclerc, who started in seventh, was in a more upbeat mood after snatching a podium late on, having overtaken Verstappen at the lap 61 safety car restart.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

It means Leclerc has claimed consecutive podium finishes after coming second in Monaco last weekend, but said his third in Barcelona is more satisfying as it came as more of a surprise.

“It’s not like I’m over the moon for a second or third place,” said Leclerc, who is fifth in the championship and 23 points ahead of sixth-placed Hamilton.

“But it still feels good because coming to the weekend, I did not expect that. In Monaco, the disappointment was big because in FP1, FP2, FP3, we were very strong. It was not the case here, so we weren’t strong in FP1, FP2, FP3 or qualifying.

“But I knew I had sacrificed quality yesterday in order to be strong in the race today, and it seems to pay off with a little bit of luck as well giving us the podium. So on that, it’s a good surprise.

“And I’m very happy about our weekend, but I’m not happy about our overall performance. And on that, we need to do a step soon.”