Hamilton rues missed opportunity in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton suggests he would have easily won the Las Vegas Grand Prix if he hadn’t made errors in qualifying on Friday.

Mercedes topped every single practice session and was fastest in qualifying as George Russell took pole position, but Hamilton made mistakes on both of his laps in Q3 to start from 10th. Climbing through the field on Saturday night, Hamilton managed to back Russell up to secure a Mercedes one-two, but he says that pace showed how much easier his race should have been.

“That was great,” Hamilton said. “Well, firstly, I've got to say a big congratulations to Max [Verstappen], winning the championship, still with several races to go. And if I'd done my job yesterday, it would have been a breeze today.

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“But it's OK, I had fun coming from the back, coming from 10th, and the team did a fantastic job. We don't know why we were so quick this weekend but that's the nice. That's the best the car has ever felt, so I'm grateful to have been a part of getting it to that point.

“If the car drives like that in the next couple races then I think we'll be in a good spot to challenge the guys up front. And the championship's done, so now it's just all out, fight for the best positions possible.”

Hamilton says he actually had a more enjoyable race fighting his way into victory contention from P10 than might have been the case dominating from pole position. 

“Great performance. It's not that I didn't think I could do it, I've had many races like this, but I'm generally happy to have had the recovery," he said. "It's a new day and I just tried to approach it with a positive mindset. And to be able to have [such] a car underneath me today and be able to push and overtake people was such a great feeling.

“That was honestly one of the most enjoyable races. If I'd started on pole and just led the way, wouldn't have felt as much fun, for sure. Of course, winning a grand prix is always a great thing, but when whoever it is faces adversity and has to battle through, it just feels so much better when you do succeed.”