After yesterday’s triumphant pole for Lewis Hamilton, his weekend sadly unraveled pretty quickly come race day for the 7x champion. Firstly, he didn’t get off the line very well, rather, he tumbled down multiple positions instead. From there onwards, it was just a distant dream to catch up to Max Verstappen. Naturally, being outclassed yet again by the Dutch lion even after the promise of pole yesterday would’ve been crushing for the Brit.

That being said, if you talk to Hamilton, he would try to convince you that he isn’t too miffed about it all. Behind the purpose of getting back to the very top of Formula 1 once again, he realized today that he isn’t ready yet to fight the mighty Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton shrugs Verstappen masterclass off

If it was 2021, Hamilton would’ve been livid. However, in 2023, this relatively embarrassing gap to Max Verstappen isn’t going to put a dent in the 38-year-old’s mood or confidence. For him, losing out at the start was an inconvenience, but everything afterward was unavoidable anyway.

After the race, he was quoted as saying, “Fell back [on lap one], obviously. I got the target that I was supposed to go to but just had wheelspin and then I was just under attack all the way till turn 2. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, I didn’t have the pace to hold on to those guys anyway.”

Even though he doesn’t want to show it, Hamilton knows deep down that his team has unfortunately taken a step backward.

Read More: “Let’s Get Them ASAP”: Lewis Hamilton Shoots Hard Hitting Demands to Mercedes After Lackluster Display at Hungarian GP

Hamilton admits Mercedes’ deficit

Mercedes were seemingly on the up. And according to them, they only had Red Bull to beat. But as the gap to the Bulls extends, the Silver Arrows find themselves with not one but two teams to focus on now in the form of McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton admitted, “We have a lot of work to do. We’re a long way off to beating Red Bull in a race, and obviously now we’re behind the McLarens but we just got to keep pushing.”

If true, then Mercedes have to now split their focus on both Red Bull and McLaren. Does this mean that the goalpost to get back to the top of Formula 1 has been shifted by yet another year?

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