Lewis Hamilton was frustrated by Mercedes’ lack of top speed after failing to catch Charles Leclerc at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The world champion finished just 0.9s behind the Monegasque across the finish line as several laps stuck behind Sebastian Vettel proved critical to Ferrari earning their first win of the season.
For the Italian team’s might on the straights, it was the guile of the Mercedes to look after its tyres which saw Hamilton rapidly close on Leclerc but in the end, P2 was the best he could manage.
“I gave it absolutely everything,” he said in parc ferme. “The Ferraris were just too fast on the straight and it was very very hard to keep up with them.
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“I got as close as I could at the end, maybe a few more laps. 44 is usually my lucky number but maybe we needed a few more!
“Nonetheless, congratulations to Charles, he’s had it coming all year and I’m really happy for him.”
Looking ahead, however, Hamilton knows beating Ferrari will be even harder this weekend at Monza and called on his team to address the gap down the straights,
“It’s all straights, so it’s going to be a happy weekend most likely for Ferrari in that respect,” he predicted.
“This weekend we are losing over a second in qualifying, a second per lap, so there is not much me and Valtteri can do in that instance, and there’s not many corners to catch it up [at Monza].
“In the next few days, we’ve got to make some drastic improvements to our straight speed somehow. I don’t know if it is possible but I think if anyone can do it, it is our team. We will do our best. Position is also everything.
“We’ve got slightly better degradation than them, so maybe, and it is a longer race so hopefully we can have another close race like we’ve had this weekend.”
