'I am proud that we have come so close to Red Bull Racing'

Lewis Hamilton is proud of his team for being so close to Red Bull Racing at the Mexican Grand Prix. A win was not in the cards for Mercedes partly due to the wrong choice of tyres.

After a P2 and P3 in qualifying, Mercedes had hopes of its first win of 2022. The team opted for a different strategy from Red Bull Racing with the medium tyre, and it backfired during the race. Max Verstappen proved elusive for Hamilton with the soft-medium strategy and George Russell lost the duel to Sergio Perez.

''It was a good race for me today, although we didn't choose the right tyre strategy in hindsight. Nonetheless, to be this close to Red Bull makes me very proud of my team and I'm very grateful to them for the hard work they've put in to keep on moving us forward,'' Hamilton said in the Mercedes press release.

''Congratulations to Max on his win and it feels great to be back up on the podium here in Mexico. We're getting closer to the front, and we will continue to push. The last couple of races, we've taken a big step forward with the car and I hope we will continue like this for the final two,'' concluded the seven-time world champion.

Mercedes seemed to benefit in Mexico mainly due to the race being held at altitude. As a result, the W13 suffered less from the 'drag' which has been the car's Achilles' heel all season. In Brazil, the team could also be competitive as a result, but in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull Racing is again considered the top favourite.