Lewis Hamilton ‘Relieved’ that He Did Not Overtake Charles LeClerc in Spa

The Belgian Grand Prix 2019 has concluded with Charles LeClerc grabbing his first career victory. In addition to that, he also bagged Ferrari’s first victory of the season, ending a 21-race win drought.

However, he did not have it easy as Lewis Hamilton was stalking him like a tiger until the very last lap. Fortunately for the fans, LeClerc was saved by the bell, namely Antonio Giovinazzi and Lando Norris. While the Alfa Romeo driver crashed out. Norris trundled to a halt across he line, denying Hamilton a chance to overtake.

During the press conference, the drivers looked ahead to Monza in the coming weekend. That was when Hamilton jokingly quipped, “It’s probably better for me that I didn’t catch you and overtake you today, I don’t think your fans would have let me leave the track.”

Charles LeClerc shot back, “You have more fans than me.”

Hamilton later admitted that the long straights of Monza would benefit the Ferrari’s straight-line speed. He noted that in qualifying Mercedes were losing over a second a lap. In other words, him and Valtteri Bottas were sitting ducks.

He predicted that the Monza race would be interesting and they need  to make a number of improvements to straight speed.

He concluded, “So, we’ll do our best – but position is also everything. We’ve got slightly better degradation than them, so maybe… and it’s a longer race, isn’t it, so hopefully we can have another close race like we’ve had this weekend.”