Now that he’s seen the footage of his near-miss with Max Verstappen in Brazil, Lewis Hamilton thinks he has a “new perspective.”
Verstappen’s car didn’t have a forward-facing on-board camera angle until a few days after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where the title rivals almost collided on lap 48.
Now that the camera angle has been revealed, Mercedes has requested a right of review, claiming that Verstappen did not apply enough steering lock to make it to the apex of Turn 4 with Hamilton on his outside.
Both drivers ran wide at the exit of the circuit but were able to rejoin, and Hamilton passed his title opponent later in the race at the same corner.
After the race, Hamilton said he believed it was “hard battling” and that he “wouldn’t expect anything less,” but he now has a different perspective on the event – though he won’t waste any time thinking about it.
“I think the reason at the time I would say [what I said] is that’s the mentality you have to take,” Hamilton told reporters on media day for the Qatar Grand Prix.
“If you sit in the car at that moment and complain it will only hold you back, so in the moment I just had to keep moving forwards and also it’s difficult to judge on something you’ve not seen all the angles.
“I re-looked at it and I have a different viewpoint naturally now. But I’m just putting all my energy into setting up the car and making sure I’m in the right headspace this weekend, so I’ve not really given anything to it.”
His Mercedes team filed an appeal before the Qatar Grand Prix weekend in the hopes of the FIA imposing a retrospective penalty on Verstappen, as any time penalty would drop the Red Bull driver behind Valtteri Bottas in the official Brazilian classification, reducing Hamilton’s Drivers’ Championship deficit to 11 points.
The seven-time World Champion, on the other hand, is focusing on himself and delegating the task of persuading the stewards to his team.
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