Lewis Hamilton believed Mercedes deserved a better result that fifth and seventh after a difficult Korean Grand Prix. Hamilton lost time at the end of his second stint when his Pirelli tyres cried enough and after failing to pass Nico Hulkenberg for fourth late on, the Briton was a picture of frustration.
“That was not a great day for us and it feels like we deserved more as a team. After Grosjean got ahead of me at the start, there was no way past and it seemed that we were losing out to other on traction cars all day. In my second stint, running the prime tyre, my right front was just destroyed all of a sudden. When that happens, you start losing temperature, understeering and locking up under braking, so it was really hard to maintain the pace in those laps. It was a really difficult part of the race but I had to get to a certain target lap before I made the final stop. After the Safety Car, we were just losing out in traction to the Sauber. Our car was really strong through the middle sector but not quick enough on the straights to stay ahead. It was a nice battle with Fernando but it’s hard to take when it’s only for P5 or P6. It was just not a good race for us today but we have the chance to bounce back in Suzuka.”
Teammate Nico Rosberg was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop when his front wing failed on the back straight and the German admitted he was surprised as anyone when the sparks started to fly from underneath his Mercedes.
“That was another very tough race for me. I couldn’t believe what happened with the wing: I was on course for a podium finish after overtaking Lewis and two seconds later, the front wing just broke. It was pretty scary because that could have been a dangerous situation but the engineers told me over the radio that it was under control and I could carry some speed back to the pits. It’s a shame because the car felt great today and I found a good balance and how to get the most out of the car, which I hadn’t managed until this point of the weekend. It’s been a real up and down season so far for me but it’s good that we have another race in a week’s time. Our car is very competitive and I had good pace compared to the cars on the podium. So I’m looking forward to the next races.”
