Hamilton: 'If I had George's set-up, I would've been in a better position'

Lewis Hamilton was beaten by his teammate George Russell in both qualifying and the race during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The British driver claims if he had the same set-up as Russell, he'd have been in a better position than fifth. 

After the safety car period, Hamilton had tyres a step softer than Russell. This allowed him to get a good restart, but the performance of the tyre tailed off towards the end of the Grand Prix in comparison to Russell who had the better tyre for longevity.

Not a bad day  

Still, Hamilton is pleased for the team. The result sees them move ahead of both Ferrari and Aston Martin in the World Championship though both of those teams have one DNF to their name so far this season. 

"We got some great points for the team, George got third and he did amazing. I went forwards so I'm really grateful to have come from seventh to fifth. The strategy didn't really work out for me, the set up was a little bit off - if I had the set up George had, I would have been in a better position," Hamilton told Sky Sports. 

"On set up, there was a 50/50 choice, I chose one way and he chose the other, and more often than not, the way he went was the wrong one but it just happened to work. I could only match his pace rather than be quicker this weekend but I'll work hard to make sure we're in a better position next weekend," Hamilton concluded.