Lewis Hamilton seemed poised to take a decent haul of points at Zandvoort, and he was even playing the strategic game, when his Dutch Grand Prix unravelled into woe.
For yet another Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton will have to fly back with a feeling of dissatisfaction following a Formula 1 race weekend.
Hamilton was playing his usual strategy mind games before crash
Having urged Ferrari to think about undercutting the drivers ahead, Hamilton appeared confident in his chances to nab a good result at Zandvoort. Speaking to media including GPblog, he said after the race:
"I didn't really want the undercut necessarily at that time.
"I was saying that we would have to try an undercut there at some point, but it was more-- I wanted to go long," the Brit said, revealing his usual strategic mind games and pitstop bluffs.
"I was still feeling good. It just took me by complete surprise, what just happened there. I lost the rear end on the way in," Hamilton explained.
"It's always been a huge amount of pressure on us as a team and more so for me now."- Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton feels fine mentally
What now? A bitter aftertaste before going for another try this time around Ferrari's home race at the emblematic Monza? Not for Hamilton, who chooses to keep the good bits of his Zandvoort race weekend.
"Apart from that, it's been a really solid weekend. We've made lots of progress. I feel like I've made progress."
Although he did describe the\ emotions following the incident happening as 'definitely been painful', he quickly reassured he feels 'okay and ensured he'd 'get ahead of it.'
Regarding his mental state in the wake of the crash, Hamilton dismissed any potentials consequences.
"As I said, I felt lots of positives. I felt like I was making progress. I was catching the car ahead. It's tough to have a result like that for sure.
"I've been racing for so long. I've had one of the most happy races of my life. It's probably kind of on the other hand a sort of incentive for me."
However, he did admit that the stakes were higher now, due to the pressure he and the team are in.
"It's always been a huge amount of pressure on us as a team and more so for me now."
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