Damon Hill warning to Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc after Lewis Hamilton recovery

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Damon Hill has warned Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc that Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are back in business. Hamilton dropped to 19th after colliding with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap.

The seven-time champion even called for Mercedes to retire him after the incident but the team encouraged him to continue. He managed to work his way back to fifth and could have secured fourth if not for a late mechanical concern which forced Mercedes to ask their drivers to slow down.

The 1996 champion claimed Hamilton’s comeback was a ‘champion’s drive’ and warned Mercedes had only just started to get to grips with their new car. He said: “It’s the Hamilton emotional rollercoaster isn’t it.

“It’s just amazing how he just thinks ‘oh no it’s no good’. But that was a stunning performance and it was a champion’s drive right through from nowhere. They gave him the equipment to do it as well. I thought it was stunning.

“I think definitely, they showed they had the pace this weekend.

“They’ve only just started to whittle and fettle it into perfection. There are seeds of hope there.” The result still leaves Hamilton more than 60 points behind the championship leader but has helped Mercedes to pull away from the midfield in the constructors’ standings.

The Silver Arrows are now 70 points clever of nearest rivals McLaren as they continue to hunt down Ferrari and Red Bull. Paul di Resta added: “The biggest thing you take from Lewis and Max, they get elevated on the radio, they are low, they are high.

“But somehow their natural ability is just there and to have that run where he was to just keep charging through was incredible.

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“It would have been interesting to see him leading the race as George was with the pace that he had. I’m not so sure Red Bull would have had an answer to that.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claimed Hamilton’s race pace was stunning and could have challenged for the win and explained why the team did not retire the car when Hamilton asked.

Wolff said: “It’s always the call when you’ve lost the race to decide what is the benefit of continuing. From a driver’s perspective, you know, ‘that can’t be possible, I’m 50 seconds behind the leaders’, but we are never giving up anyway.

“In the end, the race pace was tidy. He would have raced for the win.”

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