Damon Hill was not impressed with Lewis Hamilton’s radio messages during the US GP, saying it was essentially intense gamesmanship.
Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled for the win all the way to the last lap. It was an intense battle from start to finish, and was entertaining for anyone watching.
Hamilton led the race at the beginning, before Verstappen took the lead after the two pit stops. The Mercedes driver told his team on the radio that he didn’t think he could match the pace of the Red Bull.
Hill was not impressed with Hamilton’s radio messages during the US GP, and questioned if it was some title fight gamesmanship.
“It was a terrific race, because it was so finely-balanced all the way through,” Hill told the F1 Nation Podcast, as quoted by Racingnews365.com.
“And there’s a little bit of gamesmanship (with) some of those radio calls. I was surprised that Lewis was on the radio saying, ‘I can’t keep up the pace,’ as he does sometimes.
“You think, ‘Why are you giving the game away?’ Then Max was saying, ‘I can see him sliding around,’ and then pitted and completely outfoxed Mercedes.
“(Verstappen) got track position back from his pole position that he lost in effect, and then controlled a very, very tight race. It was thrilling from beginning to end.”
Thrilling affair
Hill commented on the overall race, and revealed his excitement at saying the top two battle from start to finish.
“The first lap of that was right up there with all the top first laps we’ve ever seen,” the 1996 World Champion continued.
“But the nail-biter was whether or not Lewis would get within the one second and get his DRS open. He seemed to get close enough, and then he couldn’t.
“He obviously couldn’t get close enough because he didn’t open his DRS. So he never got a shot at that passing move, and ran out of laps before we ran out of tyres. But the tension I think was great, all the way through,” he concluded.
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