Lewis Hamilton: “I did the best job I could…”

Lewis Hamilton gave his loyal British fans something to cheer when he finished fourth at Silverstone, having survived a spectacular last corner clash with Felipe Massa – and avoided any censure from the stewards.

Hamilton’s official margin over the Brazilian was just 0.024s.

Lewis was fastest at some points in the race, but was badly compromised when he was told to save fuel, having gone ‘over budget’ when his early pace proved faster than expected. The fuel saving in turn left him struggling with lack of brakes in the latter stages.

“Unfortunately about 20 laps from the end I had to save fuel, massively,” said Hamilton. “So I had to give Mark Webber the position. They kept telling me, and on the last lap they said I can push. I said, ‘Thanks!’ After I’d let him catch me up… I was not giving him that position, no way.

“I was struggling massively, because I was having to fuel save. That means you’re having to lift and coast. It means my brake temperatures had dropped. I had no brakes pretty much, that’s why I kept locking up, my left front was just cold. I knew braking into there I was going to struggle. I tried to keep myself on the inside, he braked massively late on the outside. I was stopping as fast as I could, and then he just tried closing the door I guess, and we came together.”

Hamilton admitted that driving to save fuel wasn’t much fun.

“You’re always trying to drive a fine line. The guys in front, they didn’t look like they had to save fuel. That’s not a positive on our side. They told me to go to this delta, and I want to make sure I’m always there, not too much, not too little, I don’t want to save too much fuel, I want to keep my position. I did the best job I could. I’m so grateful, the support I had when I crossed the line was if I had won.”