Lewis Hamilton claimed his 65th career victory at the return of the French Grand Prix – his third of the 2018 season and 44th with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. After an accident in the opening lap, his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas fought his way through the field to finish the race in P7 and set the fastest lap of the race.
Lewis Hamilton
“When you’re constructive and criticise yourself, approach a challenge with new methods and a new-found determination, it’s a great feeling to then get the result. But it’s also disappointing for the team as we had the opportunity to take a 1-2, which is always incredible as you achieve your ultimate goal as a team. I was very comfortable with the balance this afternoon. Max [Verstappen] had decent pace, but I could maintain the gap at around five seconds. The fresh engine put us back in line with everyone else who took a new PU in Canada and everybody in the team should be feeling happy for the good work they have done. But there’s a long way to go and we’ll keep approaching the rest of the season like we approached.”
“There’s nothing better than a happy driver and a happy car”@LewisHamilton reflects on win No. 3 of the season#FrenchGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/VNzRbdqSgi
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 24, 2018
Valtteri Bottas
“That was a shame because we had a strong car as Lewis’ result shows. But my race was lost in Turn One. I was on the outside going into it and I knew that keeping that line would put me on the inside for Turn Two. Then suddenly I got a hit from behind, had a puncture and damaged my floor. After that, it was difficult as the car was quite damaged. I could feel the lack of the rear end. I was sliding around. And had to do a second pit stop which was unfortunately slow so we lost more time there.”
“I guess it was just not my day; in a way, it sums up my season so far. But there are some positives. We were strong as a team, although unfortunately, we could not turn that into a perfect points result. I also set the fastest lap of the race despite the condition of the car. I’ll keep my head down, work hard and hopefully the luck will turn around at some point – I think it’s about time.”
Star Power ? The #FrenchGP was @LewisHamilton’s 44th @F1 win for the Team!! ?
All 65 of his F1 victories have been scored with @MercedesBenz power! A match made in heaven… pic.twitter.com/lTPzmzmyhT
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) June 25, 2018
