Lewis Hamilton shuts down George Russell complaints during private chat after Chinese GP
Lewis Hamilton secured his first podium finish for Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli the winner and George Russell in P2.
Lewis Hamilton dispelled George Russell's complaints about how Mercedes began the Chinese Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli won the race having qualified in P1, but both he and team-mate Russell were bested in the early stage by Hamilton's Ferrari.
At just 19, Antonelli tasted his debut Formula 1 race victory at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday morning after a stellar round of qualifying. The Italian hung on to better peer Russell, who qualified in P2, and Hamilton in P3. Yet his win was not without its quirks as the Ferrari showed better early speed and Antonelli surrendered the lead to seven-time world champion Hamilton.
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However, the pace of the Mercedes, which had already achieved a 1-2 at the Australian Grand Prix with Russell prevailing, reared its head a lap later with Antonelli recovering to win and Russell finishing runner-up after dropping to fourth.
In the cool-down room afterwards, all three podium finishers conversed about the beginning of the race, with Russell in particular lamenting his lost positions. Hamilton had a swift reply.
Hamilton said to Antonelli: "Your head was down from the get-go. You came past me and just left me." Race winner Antonelli replied: "On the first stint George was better, but on the hard I felt better. The first two laps were terrible. I struggled like crazy."
Russell, who was equally as upset with how he began the event, chimed in and said: "I lost three positions. I lost to you [Hamilton]." But Hamilton quelled Russell's worries and replied: "But look where you ended up, that's how quick you are."
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Antonelli was emotional after his victory. He said: "I'm speechless. I'm about to cry to be honest. Thank you so much to my team. They helped me to achieve this dream. We are just at the beginning, we keep pushing. George is an incredible driver, very strong on all aspects, so it's going to take a lot to beat him."
Hamilton also told F1 TV post-race: "Firstly, I have to say a huge congratulations to Kimi. I'm so, so happy for you buddy and I'm so honoured to share this moment with him. He took my seat at this great team, so a big congratulations to Mercedes. They're really pulling ahead at the moment and we've got a lot of work to do to try to keep up.
"I had so much fun. We had a great start. I wasn't able to keep these guys behind, but to stay in the fight, it was one of the most enjoyable races that I've had in a long, long time, if ever."
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