Hamilton plotting ‘maximum attack’, win from 11th ‘not impossible’

The
Mercedes
superstar
had
to
hand
over
pole
position
to
team-mate
Valtteri
Bottas
following
an
engine
change
this
week.

It
means
Hamilton,
who
comes
into
Sunday’s
race
two
points
ahead
of
Max
Verstappen,
must
start
from
11th,
denying
him
a
102nd
pole
at
a
31st
different
circuit.

Only
one
of
his
100
Formula
One
victories
have
come
behind
the
front
three
rows
–
starting
from
14th
in
Germany
in
2018
–
although
one
of
his
two
triumphs
from
sixth
came
at
this
event
last
year.
That
was
the
sole
example
of
a
Turkish
GP
win
from
beyond
the
front
row.

“I
was
already
third
at
the
end
of
Turn
1
last
year,
so
that
made
a
bit
of
a
difference,”
Hamilton
told
Sky
Sports
on
Saturday.
“But
it’s
a
much,
much
different
weekend,
a
much
different
track
grip.

“My
eyes
are
still
solely
set
on
winning
the
race;
it’s
going
to
be
very
hard
from
11th
but
not
impossible.
We’re
just
making
sure
we’ll
deliver
maximum
attack
tomorrow.”

“So
you
need
to
give
the
tyre
to
me.”
–

@ValtteriBottas
pic.twitter.com/YVGIJrr4Aa

—
Mercedes-AMG
PETRONAS
F1
Team
(@MercedesAMGF1)

October
9,
2021

Bottas,
the
beneficiary
of
Hamilton’s
switch,
acknowledged
Saturday
could
not
have
gone
any
better
for
Mercedes.

“Obviously,
as
a
team
result,
it
was
as
we
planned,”
he
said.
“Lewis,
with
his
penalty,
now
gets
the
minimum
penalty
he
can,
and
I’m
on
pole,
so
it
should
be
good.”

But
Bottas
insisted
he
was
not
instructed
to
slow
down
in
order
to
allow
Hamilton
to
secure
the
fastest
time,
having
him
start
from
11th
instead
of
12th.

“No,
I
wasn’t
asked
to
slow
down,
and
I
was
definitely
going
for
it,”
said
the
Finn,
who
will
leave
for
Alfa
Romeo
at
the
end
of
the
season.

“I
started
to
struggle
a
bit
with
the
front
end
in
the
last
sector,
so
I
just
had
some
understeer
in
Turn
12
and
14.
I
could
feel
I
was
losing
a
bit
of
time.

“I
probably
used
the
tyres
a
bit
earlier
in
the
lap.
I
was
fully
going
for
it,
for
sure.”