Lewis Hamilton was disappointed with Valtteri Bottas after the Mexican GP disaster that Mercedes had to deal with.
Hamilton conceded more ground to title rival Max Verstappen. The Dutchman started from third on the grid and took a dominant victory. The result meant Hamilton now trails Verstappen by 19 points, with four races to go.
The British driver held off home race hero Sergio Perez despite his much-slower pace. He took a fighting P2, but he will now be feeling the pressure. However, had his teammate nailed the start a little better, he might have won.
Hamilton was disappointed with Bottas after the Mexican GP disaster, and said that he expected a better series of events.
“I had envisaged it differently, naturally, in the sense that Valtteri maybe would get a better start and I would have tried to get into his tow,” he said in his post-race interview.
“But obviously, I was alongside him, which was good. And then I was just covering my side of the track, trying to make sure no one could come up the inside so I was trying to keep whichever Red Bull I could see in my mirror behind.
“I thought Valtteri would be doing the same, but obviously he left the door open for Max. And Max was on the racing line so he did a mega job braking into turn one and because I’m on the inside in the dirt, there was no hope for me.”
Uphill battle
Hamilton was then fighting a 2v1 battle, and having let Verstappen go, he had to deal with Perez. He fought resolutely and forced him to stay behind.
“Having one car ahead just means they can play on the strategy,” he explained.
“Sergio I think was super-close within that first stint and I couldn’t really pull away from him. So we stopped and I think the team did a great job – it was just we didn’t have really much left on the tyres at the end.
“But where there’s a will, there’s a way. We managed to keep them behind. One more lap and I think it would have been over,” he concluded.