Lewis Hamilton said Valterri Bottas deserved to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Hamilton only won the race after Bottas suffered a puncture while leading in Baku. He ran over some debris from the collision the two Red Bulls had.
Hamilton said: “He has been driving exceptionally well and he did the better job and deserved the win but circumstances prevented that.
“I have to be grateful on one side. I will take it and harness it and try to propel it forwards to the next race.”
The former championship leader Vettel dominated the race until the late Mercedes gamble paid off and Bottas was able to make a late pit stop and take the lead.
Vettel then threw it away while in second place as he locked up trying to pass Bottas on the restart. That lock up then allowed Hamilton to get in to second position behind his Mercedes teammate. Hamilton then inherited the lead when Bottas got his puncture the following lap.
It was Hamiltons and Mercedes first win of the season as they have struggled to keep up with the in-form Ferrari’s
Lewis Hamilton said he had “mixed emotions”.
“It is a day I am grateful for and I honestly don’t feel I’m not at my best, I am just really struggling with the car,” Hamilton said.
“That brings the ultimate performance down and I have to work hard to try to understand that. It is not like I have never been there before. There was a crucial point where the win was up for grabs and Sebastian made a mistake and I am really grateful I was able to get by him.” Hamilton Says Bottas Deserved To Win
“There were a lot of faults in the race, which is rare for me.
“But I struggled with the car, struggled with the tyres and that’s something I don’t take lightly. So I’ve definitely got to go away from here and work even harder to make sure that there’s not a repeat performance-wise.”
Vettel finished in fourth place and is now four points behind Hamilton in the championship.
Vettel said: “Without the final safety car it would have been a different race. We had a decent restart. I saw a gap on the inside and unfortunately, I locked up.
“Without the lock-up, I make the first corner and it looks like a good move. I had to try, I tried and it didn’t work.
“I got caught out with the bump and the front locking. But I don’t want to blame that. In the end, I am captain on board and it just didn’t work. I can’t let one and a half to two seconds of the race have a shame on all the race because there were a lot of positives.
“The most important thing is we have a good car, a car we can work within qualifying. If we put it in the front, we can fight for wins. Hamilton Says Bottas Deserved To Win
“I am not worried at all because it is quite different to last year when in qualifying we were not competitive enough for most of the year and then later in the year we were not competitive enough to make things happen. The car is there and we need to make sure it stays there.” Hamilton Says Bottas Deserved To Win