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RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
09/07/2008 - 09:25 PM
Spa, Belgium
Hamilton felt he had done nothing worth a penalty. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos
On Sunday afternoon at Spa Lewis Hamilton went through the entire range of emotions, from the joy of winning a magnificent Belgian GP, to the despair after the stewards took the victory away from him. After that announcement was made Lewis left the track without talking to anyone, but immediately after the flag he talked to the media about his race, giving us an insight into the incident that would come back to haunt him a couple of hours later. Events may have moved on since his spoke, but his words are nevertheless worth studying. This is what he had to say.
Q: Talk us through those closing laps as the rain began to fall.
“It was an experience and a half. I could see Kimi ahead and after the second stop he was so far ahead and I was thinking how did he make such a gap but I did get stuck in traffic. I was just pushing and pushing and pushing trying to close that gap. I might have been catching him one tenth per lap but then he would pull out a little bit of time and then I was relying on traffic. I was hoping that he would catch the traffic at the right time. Sometimes he caught it on the straight and he got a tow and then I caught them in mid sector and lost time. It was just mix and match. I was just praying, I was saying please just rain, rain, rain. I wanted the rain to come because I knew how to deal with it.
“The heavens opened a little bit and I saw Kimi begin to back off a little bit, a lot earlier than he did normally into turn eight and that was really where I knew it was on, the fight was on. When I went into turn 12 I was going reasonably wide but then it looked like, I think it was Rosberg, had done a spin and he was coming back onto the track and he was coming back on exactly where I was going off, so I nearly crashed into the side of him. Kimi nearly did the same. I went over the grass, Kimi spun on the exit of that corner, so I got it back and from then on it was pretty straightforward from there. But it was incredibly tough as I had lost all the temperature in the tires but it was great.”
Q: Talk us through that passing incident at the last chicane when you let Kimi past but then passed him again?
“Yeah,
Q: You led the race from the start but you half spun at the start of the second lap.
“I got a good start. I got away and I was feeling comfortable. The difficulty was that bits of the track were still wet, at the last corner and turn one, so I was having to make sure I got the braking right. It was still a bit unknown and I went into turn one and I think on the last downshift it just locked the rears. It was a pretty pathetic spin but there was nothing I could do about it. Luckily they weren't so close to each other, so I just pulled the clutch, boom, and went as quick as possible. I did get ahead but Kimi slipstreamed me on the straight.”
Q: Kimi opened up a gap of around five seconds but on the prime tire you pulled the gap back at the beginning of the third stint.
“Yeah, that spin really did put us on the back foot. It was a relatively big mistake from me. If it had stayed dry, we probably could have won if I had stayed ahead. It could have been quite critical. I think he pulled quite a big gap and I got held in traffic, I think it was behind Kubica and my team-mate, and there was nothing I could do about it. When I came out for the last stint, I just pushed and pushed and pushed. It wasn't over until it's over. I could see the clouds coming, so I just had to make sure. I think three or four laps to the end I said I can't catch this guy, so do I save the engine or do I keep pushing. But then I thought what happens if he makes a mistake or goes off or something like that, so it is never over until the fat lady sings and you see the checkered flag.”
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