Hamilton emphasizes importance fastest lap: "Don't know how long the season is"

Lewis Hamilton and his team decided to come in again for new tyres in the absolute final phase of the race to drive the fastest lap. A risky undertaking, you would say, because with this he gave up almost his entire lead. But Hamilton fight for every point.

"Well, ultimately we have to weigh-up the risks and… I mean I didn’t push so much that I was going to make a mistake and go off. So it was a fully controlled lap. Valtteri had a great, particularly, first race. At the time he had the fastest lap, I had the gap, and felt that it was necessary to get that point."

Mercedes needs to keep its head on

In 2016 Hamilton lost the championship by one point to Nico Rosberg. At that time drivers still didn't get a point for the fastest lap, so Hamilton wants to take advantage of that now if he can. According to Hamilton it shouldn't matter if he puts pressure on his mechanics in the pits. They are professionals.

"Look, I’ve lost World Championships in the past by one point, so I know how crucial it is to maximise on every moment and we’re in a year when you don’t know what reliability is going to be like; you don’t know how long the season’s going to be."