Hamilton fights back from as low as seventh to finish second; Says Nico Rosberg ran him off at Turn One at Albert Park
Wednesday 30 October 2019 15:52, UK
Lewis Hamilton was delighted to recover from a poor getaway at the season-opening Australian GP to claim a second-placed finish in Melbourne.
The three-time world champion started the race on pole but made contact with Nico Rosberg at Turn One, eventually fighting back from as low as seventh to reach the podium behind his Mercedes team-mate.
Hamilton endured several battles with Toro Rosso pair Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz but the decision from his team to keep him on the medium tyres for 39 laps after the red flag paid off, with the 31-year-old holding off Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages.
Asked if he was frustrated or disappointed with not sealing victory and ending Rosberg's streak of wins, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "Neither of those. I came back from quite far behind so I feel that I achieved quite a lot today so I'm really happy I did damage limitation, the team did a great job.
"What's difficult is knowing how long those tyres are going to go. I didn't think the tyres were going to last but then they had that drop and Sebastian was on my tail. After that it was so slippery.
"We thought Ferrari were going to be close. I knew they would be quicker in qualifying if they had another lap. Nico doesn't seem to think he had problems following them, so that's interesting. When Sebastian was following me I was excited because I was in a race. But unfortunately this track doesn't let you have serious battles."
Hamilton got away slowly at the front of the grid and, as Rosberg as well as both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen passed him, he clipped his team-mate's rear left tyre and lost ground on his rivals.
Judging by their past it could have resulted in another meltdown but both drivers were pictured hugging at the end of the race while Rosberg apologised for making contact at the first corner, insisting he didn't know Hamilton was there.
Speaking about the poor start and whether it was because of the new clutch regulations, Hamilton added: "As far as I'm aware it wasn't because of that. When we had the stoppage I asked my engineer and I think we just had no wheels spinning.
"It was one of those difficult starts. The actual start wasn't shocking, it was just Turn One when Nico ran me off where I lost the most ground. I'm just grateful I was able to recover."
Don't miss the F1 Report for all the reaction and analysis from the Australian GP. Natalie Pinkham is joined by David Brabham and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley on Wednesday at 8:30pm on Sky Sports F1.
