Hamilton clarifies ‘difficult position’ radio message

Lewis Hamilton explained what he meant when he accused Mercedes of putting him in a difficult position during the Australian GP.

Mercedes were very pleasantly surprised with their qualifying performance, Hamilton securing P5 on the grid and team-mate George Russell starting P6, on a weekend where Russell said they had the “fifth-fastest car” behind Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Alpine.

Their prospects improved further by passing P4 starter Lando Norris on the first lap, though a second Safety Car period brought mixed fortunes for the Mercedes drivers.

Russell would benefit nicely, improving to a podium position, while Hamilton had lost out to his team-mate and was also passed by Sergio Perez after leaving the pits.

Perez would close in on Russell and make the overtake, but with Max Verstappen retiring from P2, it meant that Russell was back on for a podium, with only Hamilton in a position to deny him.

Hamilton was not able to close in enough though and he would take to the radio, bluntly telling his Mercedes team that “you guys put me in a really difficult position.”

It was not immediately clear what Hamilton meant, as Mercedes could not have done anything about the Safety Car timing.

But in front of the Sky Sports F1 cameras, he revealed that his words came as a result of his engine overheating, meaning he had to sit back from the Perez-Russell battle and could not later attack his team-mate.

George's 63rd @F1 race start = His first Mercedes podium! pic.twitter.com/TRtbAaQnhb

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 10, 2022

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