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JEDDAH. — Lewis Hamilton called his 10th place at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix “gutting” as his comeback was halted by pit-lane confusion on Sunday, with the Mercedes driver also insisting his team are a “long way away” from returning to the front.
Hamilton, after starting 15th, had recovered to sixth after a long stint on hard tyres before a bizarre set of circumstances saw Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso ground to a halt by the entrance to the pit-lane.
Hamilton had hoped to take advantage of the Virtual Safety Car with a pit-stop but by the time Mercedes told him to stop, the Englishman insisted it was “too late” with cars in the way and the pit entry closing.
When the VSC ended, Hamilton finally stopped but he then dropped down to 12th and could only make up two places in the closing nine laps.
Hamilton, questioning his team, told Sky F1: “Personally I feel like I maximised everything. I don’t know if we did as a team.”
“It was a difficult one,” he added. “I saw Alonso slowing down, it was double yellow flags so I didn’t push to overtake him, then Daniel was stuck in the pitlane so I didn’t know if I could go in with a car sitting there. It was just not great.” — Sky Sports
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