Lewis Hamilton says he was “trying everything” in order to reel in and pass title rival Max Verstappen during Formula 1’s inaugural Sprint at Silverstone.
Hamilton started from the front of the grid but relinquished top spot to Verstappen into Abbey on the opening lap and remained behind through the rest of the 17-lap encounter.
Verstappen’s victory in the first Sprint enabled the Dutchman to stretch his title advantage to 33 points and he will now start the grand prix itself from pole position.
“I was trying everything obviously to get by, they were just too quick,” said Hamilton. “He was just too fast today.
“It was pretty much just the same as the last races, in terms of just following behind Max.
“Yesterday was a more enjoyable day, because qualifying is great. But it’s very hard, naturally, to follow in these cars so it wasn’t very exciting, but hopefully it was for the fans.”
Hamilton went on to suggest that Formula 1’s Sprint has potential but that further changes to the overall weekend format would be more beneficial.
“Yesterday was enjoyable with the way it was set-up with the one session and then straight into qualifying,” he said.
“In my opinion, it only needs to be a Saturday and Sunday weekend. That way we have one whole day less of driving these cars around the track.
“I think it’s because it’s so difficult to pass with these cars, you need pitstops and strategy to help sometimes, otherwise it’s so hard to get close.
“We’ve got a different rear tyre this weekend but we’ve got the highest pressures I think we’ve had, so blistering is an issue and thermal deg is an issue.
“It’s almost like they should do the sprint race on the Sunday and the race, because they’ll be a lot of sitting around for people tomorrow.”
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