Source: Williams Media Library

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Sirotkin not angry with Hamilton after close call in qualifying

Sirotkin not angry with Hamilton after close call in qualifying

11-11-2018 08:15
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Jake Williams-Smith

Sergey Sirotkin says he is not too angry with Lewis Hamilton after a close call in qualifying almost resulted in an almighty crash. The Russian was about to start a hot lap but came across a slow-moving Hamilton, forcing Sirotkin to take evasive action.

Hamilton was not punished for the incident and after qualifying, Sirotkin told reporters that he was not an issue in his view.

“Why everybody asking about Lewis and not about where we are?

“To be honest (there’s) nothing I’m too angry with him for. I needed to push that lap to get my tyres… It was all a bit unplanned where we were and we could not put the tyres in the blankets between the runs so we were massively down on temps.

“Basically that outlap was as quick as my any other lap, almost. I was properly flat out, I was coming through the very quick left hander there, and he was stopping to prepare his lap.

“I went on the left, not even hoping that he would let me go because he was so slow and I was coming so quickly and then in the last minute he saw me and tried to avoid me.

“He gave me the racing line but I was already on the left so I had to pass through the grass and basically my lap was ruined after that. But he’s a champion, he knows what he’s doing and didn’t change my position at the end of the day. But it’s a good day in general.”

Ironically enough it was Sirotkin who found himself in front of the stewards after he was deemed to have been too slow on his in-lap in Q1, resulting in a reprimand.