LONDON, England – Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton apparently did ”a fantastic job” to get what turned out to be a damaged car to the end of Sunday’s 2019 Australian F1 GP.
The opinion came from Mercedes’ chief strategist, James Vowles, and was reported by Reuters.
Hamilton started on pole but finished second behind team mate Valtteri Bottas. The Mercedes team said later that part of the floor of Hamilton’s car was missing.
READ THE full Reuters feature, with images, here
Vowles explained later: ”We noticed some damage to what we call the tyre-seal area. which is quite aerodynamically sensitive for downforce and car balance.
”The damage would have caused the rear to be less stable than normal – Lewis did a fantastic job to get the car to the end of the race.”
”We believe it was sustained by riding over kerbs.”
Vowles did, however, praise Bottas for ”being ‘on it all weekend”.
