Hamilton on different strategy: Wasn't "anything else we could have done"

Lewis Hamilton is quite satisfied with his third place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver had to miss the previous weekend in Bahrain after a positive coronavirus test. That is why a podium place more than satisfies the 35-year-old driver.

Oh you can’t win them all! Considering the past couple of weeks I’ve had I’m really generally happy with the weekend. It’s obviously not 100% and not perhaps as good as we would like. But congratulations to Max. That was a really hard race for me, physically. All year, physically I have been fine but today I definitely wasn’t. So, I’m just glad it’s over. Big, big thank you to the tea, for their continued support. It’s still a fantastic result to get two podium finishes for us," Hamilton said in the FIA ​​press conference.

No other options for Mercedes

According to the seven-time world champion, Mercedes could not have done much more with a different strategy. "No, not really, I think… I don’t think there was anything else we could have really done. If I’d stayed out [during the VSC], the pace they would have had on that new tyre, that would just have eaten up the gap that I had and then I would have done a pit stop and lost even more time. So, there’s not really a lot that you could have done. It definitely didn’t make the race particularly exciting. But yeah, it is what it is," Hamilton added. 

Hamilton then emphasises once again that it really was not a very bad weekend for his German employer, despite the fact that there was no victory at the Yas Marina Circuit. "We still scored more points than Red Bull as a team [sic] so that’s still a strong showing this weekend, and we’ve obviously got a fight on our hands next year, without a doubt these guys are going to be strong as this car he’s driving now is next year’s car pretty much, and the same for us. So, I’m excited for that challenge and that battle that we hopefully will get."