Lewis Hamilton, a very laborious introduction

However, everything had ideally started. Happy to find the seat of his Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton had started the Austrian weekend, the first of the season in competition in 2020, with a recital in free practice, demonstrating that the couple he formed with his Silver Arrow still remained the benchmark to beat. And then suddenly, without warning, the machine seized up. Already in qualifying, the six-time world champion had to bow with a breath of 12 hundredths behind his teammate Valtteri Bottas to conquer pole position. A simple setback, we thought then ... The beginning, rather, of troubles for the Briton.

First odd, Hamilton received a penalty, shortly before the start of the race, for not respecting the yellow flag regime at the end of qualifying. Instead of starting in second position, he fell back to fifth place. However, more was needed to undermine the will of the reigning world champion who only needed a dozen laps to regain his place as Bottas' dolphin, with a delay of seven seconds that he would have had trouble filling without the intervention of a first safety car. Then began a frustrating race for the Briton, unable to really threaten his partner. Repeatedly asking for more power on his engine, he did not win because of fear of a mechanical breakage at Mercedes. Just as he was asked to take it easy on the vibrators, there too for fear of a possible abandonment.

Hamilton unleashes Albon's anger

Restrained in his intentions, Hamilton found himself even under the threat of the Red Bull of Alex Albon, which he sent in the gravel on an attempt to overtake the Thai. A maneuver that allowed him to keep his second place on the checkered flag, but which then earned him a five-second sanction synonymous with demotion at the foot of the podium. Two sanctions in a weekend he took with a certain phlegm, unlike an angry Albon: "For me, it was a simple racing incident but I admit my mistake too, so I accept my penalty and I want to apologize to Alex. As for yesterday (Saturday), I admit having messed up my qualifications. On the other hand, it is strange to receive a penalty the next day, after an initial hearing at the end of which I had not been sanctioned. But all this does not destabilize me. On the contrary, it encourages me to do even better next weekend. ”

See this post on Instagram

Today was an important moment for me and all the people out there who are working for and hoping for change. For a more equal and just society. I may get criticism in the media and elsewhere, but this fight is about equality, not politics or promotion. To me it was an emotional and poignant chapter in the progress of making F1 a more diverse and inclusive sport. I want a better future for our generation and the ones after us. There is so much that needs to be done. No one is perfect but if we all chip in and do our part, we can see change. I truly believe that. Thank you to my team for their incredible support and hard work this weekend and thank you to all who supported. Let's keep pushing, guys. See you next week. Love. #EndRacism #BlackLivesMatter

A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton) on Jul 5, 2020 at 12:59 pm PDT

A certain retreat which the English pilot undoubtedly also owes with his emotion, before the race, when he knelt down, as well as many other pilots, in support of the movement "Black Lives Matter" for which he s has been very involved in the past two weeks. A moment he returned to his Instagram account: “Today was an important moment for me and for all the people who work and hope for a change. For a fairer and more just society. I can receive criticism in the media and elsewhere, but this fight concerns equality, not politics or promotion. For me, it was a moving chapter in the progression of F1 towards a more diverse and inclusive sport. I want a better future for our generation and for us. There is so much to do. No one is perfect, but if we all participate and do our part, we can see the change. I really believe it. " And starting next weekend, still in Austria, he will have the opportunity to make people forget this complicated inaugural grand prize.

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