Lewis Hamilton has admitted he didn’t quite have the same faith his Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had in him to go on and win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, as the Briton was left on the backfoot at the restart.
Hamilton had dropped to the back of the grid after Mercedes opted to take the restart after a red-flagged period, despite every other driver coming in to the pits to change their wet weather tyres for dry.
It meant that Hamilton surrendered the lead of the race as Mercedes instructed him to pit and change tyres, with a mountain to climb to regain the lead.
Despite a valiant effort, and an epic battle with Fernando Alonso, the 36-year-old ran out of laps to challenge Esteban Ocon, as the Frenchman took his maiden win.
However, during the race Wolff was heard over the radio giving his driver a boost, declaring “Lewis, you can win this” as the seven-time world champion closed in on Esteban Ocon, with Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Sebastian Vettel also still ahead of him.
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And despite Hamilton appreciating the vote of confidence from the team, he wasn’t entirely convinced himself.
“He’s got a great heart, Toto, but with all due respect, when I got the call, I was like, I want whatever they’re smoking at the end of this race,” joked Hamilton during the press conference after the race.
“Because you guys [Ocon and Vettel] were so far ahead and I had to make another pit stop at the same time and I was like, impossible to catch you guys…”
Ocon, who was sitting alongside Hamilton, responded, “He believes in you man,” a message Hamilton appreciated.
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“For sure, when you’re out there it can definitely seem lonely at some stages, Hamilton added.
“And sometimes you’ve got such tunnel vision that it’s like ten laps, it’s like a light year.
“It’s just so much time has gone by in that period of time, it feels like you’re travelling through time, it’s a very, very strange experience and then you forget that people are on the other line, so it’s nice to be reminded that they’re there.”
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