Hamilton thrilled with Mercedes pace after comfortable Styrian GP win

Lewis Hamilton hailed the pace of his Mercedes after cruising to an easy win at the Styrian Grand Prix.

After the penalty dramas of last week, the world champion was back on form as he held the lead from pole and never looked back to take just his second victory at the Red Bull Ring.

“Firstly, I have to say a big thank you to my team and everyone back at the factory,” Hamilton said in parc ferme.

“What a weird year it is, but it’s great to be back up here and to be driving, and to be driving with this kind of performance.

“The team did a fantastic job with the strategy and then it was just for me to keep it together, stay off the kerbs, and bring it home.

“I tried to get the fastest lap but of course, on 40-lap old mediums, I wasn’t going to get it to someone who was on new, fresh tyres,” he added.

With the win, Hamilton moves back within six points of teammate Valtteri Bottas in the championship and now heads to one of his strongest circuits in Hungary next weekend to conclude F1’s opening triple-header.

“I love this, I love back-to-back races. Let’s do this all year long,” he said of the hectic schedule.

As for Bottas, he produced a brilliant late charge on fresher tyres to pass Max Verstappen for second with three laps to go.

“Lewis had a good start and he could control the race,” he commented. “There was not quite as much happening as last week but from my side, starting fourth, today was damage limitation.

“I’m still leading [the championship], so it’s not too bad. It was a good battle with Max [Verstappen], I think in the end I had quite a bit more pace than him, racing closely is always good fun.

“I can always be more satisfied, but it’s not been bad, the first couple of races.”