Hamilton 'answered questions' in stunning Las Vegas recovery – Brundle

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle praised Lewis Hamilton for his recovery in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a performance he believes "answered some questions". 

Hamilton was met with unusual comments ahead of the race in Sin City, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff having made a remark that "everyone has a shelf-life". 

The seven-time world champion responded by recovering from a bad end to qualifying to finish second at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. 

He started in P10 following two mistakes in Q3, where he did have the pace to fight team-mate George Russell for pole position.

Brundle was impressed by the 39-year-old's display, which he thinks proves Hamilton is not past his best just yet.

"Hamilton in the sister Mercedes had looked equally fast, albeit with a few trips up the escape road here and there," Brundle wrote for Sky Sports F1. "Sadly for him he had two poor laps in final qualifying when the back end stepped out and he would start a lowly 10th.

"He said post-race that had he started at the front he would have breezed the race, which surprised Russell a little. There's no doubt Russell had more pace if he'd needed it.

"However, it was a standout drive from Lewis, picking his way through serious contenders up into second place and finishing just seven seconds behind at the flag. 

"The fans rightly voted him driver of the day, and he answered some questions a few have been throwing at him lately about being over the hill."

Russell the 'real deal'

Despite Hamilton's confidence that he would have won in Sin City if not for his errors, Russell was faultless. 

The Briton converted pole position into a second victory of the season, and was rarely seen by the television cameras due to his dominant display. 

For Brundle, it was a sign that Russell can lead Mercedes going into next season, when he will be partnered by teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli.

"In all the championship noise you must feel sorry for George Russell, who qualified impressively on pole position and simply dominated the race," Brundle wrote for Sky Sports F1.

"He was so far out front for most of the 50 laps we hardly saw him given the battles raging behind. It was George's third Grand Prix victory. Mercedes looked very fast from the opening laps of first practice, and indeed they would lead every session throughout the event.

"Their car simply worked on the cold slick surface, and the team had the good grace to admit they weren't entirely sure why, which is consistent with the unpredictability of that car this year.

"It was an assured performance from George who is looking very much the real deal in terms of leading that team into the future."