Lewis Hamilton says he was “in a daze” during the Spanish Grand Prix as he crushed his rivals en route to a fourth Formula 1 victory of the delayed 2020 campaign.
Hamilton controlled proceedings throughout the 66-lap encounter at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday after preserving the lead from pole position.
Hamilton crossed the line 24 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to extend his title advantage to 37 points over the Dutch driver.
“I was just in a daze out there,” said Hamilton, who broke Michael Schumacher’s record of podium finishes by taking his 156th rostrum result. “I was just in a different… it felt really good.
“It felt like a fantastic effort from the team, but oh god it felt good out there.
“It was a real surprise because we had this problem with the tyres.
“Management was very, very good and I think that’s ultimately our understanding of what happened last week, what we brought in to this weekend has inevitably allowed us to do what we did today.
“I didn’t even know it was the last lap at the end, that’s how zoned in I was, I was ready to keep going.”
Hamilton ran a Soft/Medium/Medium two-stop strategy in hot conditions at the Spanish Grand Prix, informing Mercedes prior to the final stint that he did not want to mirror team-mate Valtteri Bottas in taking on another set of Softs.
“It’s something I study very hard before the race: understanding what tyres we were going to use and what strategy we were going to do,” he said.
“As I begun to understand that I could make the tyres last longer than we planned. I was even looking in my mind potentially going for a one stop but the strategy we had was just right.
“I think at the end there was no risk of getting on a Soft tyre so I had a fresh brand-new Medium tyre which I think was best.”
