Lewis Hamilton suspects that the cooler conditions at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix may have helped the team to secure a double podium result. After starting from P7, Hamilton displayed impressive pace during the latter stages of the race and ended the event in second place. Teammate George Russell – who had taken his debut pole position in Saturday's qualifying – was unable to hold onto the lead, but still finished in third, while Max Verstappen took victory. Hamilton admits that he had a tough start to the afternoon, but that he was able to catch the leaders as the event went on. When asked where his late-race speed had come from, the Mercedes driver explained: "I honestly don't know. I was definitely struggling at the beginning of the race and wasn't sure whether I'd be able to catch the guys up. "But, bit by bit, [I] got a bit more comfortable with the balance. [I] had a really good start as well."
Hamilton praises role of Mercedes team
Hamilton also praised the role of his team, with this marking their second consecutive double podium after the French Grand Prix one week earlier. He feels confident that they are now closing the gap to their competitors. "I really want to acknowledge my team, who have continued to push [and] never give up through this tough year that we've had so far," he continued. "For us to [have] both cars on the podium twice is pretty special for us. [It was] really unlucky for George today. "The other guys still have a bit of an edge, but we're clearly closing the gap, and this is just an amazing way to go into the [summer] break, knowing that we have this performance. "Hopefully, we'll bring some more into the second part of the season and start fighting with the guys in front."
Did cooler conditions benefit Mercedes?
With cooler conditions affecting Sunday's race, Hamilton admits that this may have played in the Silver Arrows' favour. "I definitely think [with it] being a little bit cooler, it seemed to work a little bit better for us," the seven-time World Champion added. "I can't tell you exactly why, but [I'm] grateful for it. I was hoping it was going to rain at the end so I could challenge Max, but we ran out of laps. "With a bit of a better qualifying, if the DRS was okay yesterday, we would have been in the run for the win. But either way, two seconds in a row, I'm really, really happy."
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