Valtteri Bottas finished third at the Austrian GP while Lewis Hamilton was made to settle for fifth - his worst finish this season
Monday 1 July 2019 09:58, UK
Lewis Hamilton has played down the impact his lacklustre showing at the Austrian Grand Prix will have on his hopes of a sixth world championship title.
The Mercedes driver sustained front-wing damage and struggled with car and tyre temperatures amid sweltering temperatures in Spielberg, and his championship charge suffered a setback by his worst finish in more than a year.
The Briton took the chequered flag in fifth and was forced to lift and coast throughout the race due to his Mercedes engine overheating in the extreme heat.
"We have not had any problems up until this race," said Hamilton after his Mercedes team were beaten for the first time this year.
"The race in Budapest will be hot but I don't think this performance will happen in a lot of places."
Hamilton's hopes of a seventh win in nine races were hampered when he ran over the kerbs and had to stop for a new front wing.
On his efforts to deal with over-heating, the five-time world champion added: "As far as I'm aware, it wasn't the case for the Ferraris and the Red Bulls, but for us it certainly was a massive issue.
"We had a good pace today, but we just couldn't race, so that's how this track reveals a limitation of our car. I don't feel like I have to write off the weekend. I got fifth, and I got points, so we just move on."
Hamilton's lead in the drivers' championship has been shaved to 31 points after his nearest rival Valtteri Bottas finished in third place - and he was left frustrated in Spielberg as he was forced to concede fourth spot to Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages of the race.
Wolff laments 'difficult day'
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said on Saturday that high temperatures and the altitude at the race would compromise their hopes of success.
Mercedes have dominated this season with six one-two finishes from nine rounds. This marked the first race Hamilton has failed to finish in the top two.
"From a fan's perspective, this was a really exciting race to watch," said Wolff. "However, from our team's perspective, it was a difficult day.
"It's clear that we have to fix our cooling problems for the coming hot European races.
"We knew that it was our Achilles heel and we were carrying the problem since the beginning of the season.
"We tried to work on mitigating the performance loss but in the end it was really painful to watch them cruising, not being able to defend or attack.
"But the bad days are the ones when we learn the most to come back stronger."
Home comforts to take heat off Hamilton?
The championship leader will head to his home race at Silverstone in a fortnight's time, and he will be expected to feature prominently at a track where he has won on five occasions, most recently in 2017.
"I think the heat caught Mercedes out quite clearly," said Martin Brundle. "They've been on the back foot for a couple of days now.
"They were hoping for a bit better than third and fifth, and you wonder where Vettel would've finished had he started on the front two rows where he should've been."
The Red Bull Ring is becoming a bogey track for Mercedes after Bottas and Hamilton were fastest in qualifying last year - but neither finished the race.
Damon Hill told Sky Sports: "We talk a lot about the tyres being a problem for racing, but they do throw in a mysterious quality and teams do get caught out.
"The track temperature was cooking, and that could be why Mercedes didn't perform as well as they normally do - but wouldn't it be great if it was like that every race? We wouldn't have a clue what was going to happen."
