“Diplomat” Lewis Hamilton’s Shrewd Gesture to George Russell’s Annoying Tactics Hailed by Ex Ferrari Boss

It has been a particularly disappointing race weekend for Lewis Hamilton in Belgium. In Qualifying on Friday, he put in a lap good enough for P3 on the grid. And he was confident enough to better his performance in the sprint qualifying on the back of his Mercedes which could land him on the front row. But then George Russell impeded him, causing both of them to abort their last flying lap in SQ3. However, it is Hamilton’s diplomacy after that annoying incident that caught the eyes of a former Ferrari manager.

The Mercedes driver duo hasn’t had the best of luck this season. And to top it off, miscommunication between the drivers and team is an added cause of distress. And it was this lethal combination that led to the failure in Sprint Qualifying. On their final flying lap in SQ3, Russell locked up at Turn 1 and went wide, thus, closing the gap between him and Hamilton who was also on his flying lap.

Eventually, on the long straight, as Hamilton got impeded by Russell, he made a certain gesture that even the onboard cameras couldn’t get the entirety of. On his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor spoke about the gesture and how Hamilton maintained his calm even in the most annoying of situations.

Windsor said, “We don’t actually know what he did but it looked like he just pulled out alongside him. Looks like, then very coolly, just tightens his seatbelt along the side. He was really annoyed by that. But incredible diplomat. He didn’t say anything about it.”

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As if this incident in the Sprint Shootout wasn’t enough, the 7-time champion was involved in another incident in the sprint race. But he got penalized this time.

Lewis Hamilton quotes Ayrton Senna to defend his collision with Sergio Perez

In Lap 6 of the Sprint race, Lewis Hamilton, in P5 tried to overtake Sergio Perez for P4. But in Stavelot corner, his W14 made contact with Perez’s RB19 and damaged the RB19’s sidepods. Perez could not carry on with the damage sustained and had to retire the car in Lap 9. Eventually, the stewards slapped Hamilton with a 5-second time penalty that he was not quite happy with.

“Not really much to say. Racing incident I think, I tried to go up the inside,” said Hamilton. “I think I went for a gap, he was slow going through 14, I went up the inside, I was more than half a car length on the inside. And ‘If you no longer go for a gap you’re no longer a racing driver,’ as Ayrton said. So that’s what I did. When I watched it back it felt like a racing incident to me.”

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At the Belgian GP today, the Briton starts in P3. Can he hold onto that position or build and improve on that to get a podium for Mercedes?