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Hamilton relieved to find out about Mercedes' floor damage

Hamilton relieved to find out about Mercedes' floor damage

18-03-2019 14:00
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Bobby Vincent

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he was relieved to hear about the floor damage to his Mercedes following his struggles in the Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished second, behind his team-mate Valtteri Bottas - who picked up his first win since 2017 in Melbourne.

It turned out the five-time and reigning world champion, suffered floor damage as early as lap four in Australia, but it was only after the race that his team were able to confirm the damage to his car.

"I had no way of knowing it was the floor," Hamilton said to Autosport. "Something didn't feel right, but you can't dwell on it. You just have to try and work with what you have, and I was quite easily keeping up with Valtteri until then.

"Then afterwards, I felt it was really struggling with the rear. From lap four, that's when the damage occurred. Not sure where it came from because I didn't run wide anywhere."

Then Hamilton was asked if it could have come from any loose debris on the track, and said: "Potentially. And it's been quite a sensitive part of the floor, and actually that's quite encouraging to me because we work very hard to get the balance right.

"I felt like I had good pace this weekend, and we did our normal job in terms of working hard on getting a good set-up. And then all of a sudden, the car was completely different compared to the formation laps, and what we had in the long runs. So it's great to see that there is a reason for the unexpected."