Lewis Hamilton has thanked his Mercedes mechanics after they rebuilt his car ahead of a podium finish in Austria. Starting eighth - having only gained one place from his qualifying slot in the Sprint event - Hamilton fought his way to fourth. A fiery car failure for Ferrari's Carlos Sainz then promoted Hamilton onto the final podium position, his third in three races. Speaking after the race, the Briton conceded that he didn't anticipate being on the Austrian Grand Prix rostrum, especially after a difficult qualifying and Sprint. "I definitely wasn't expecting that," Hamilton commented. "Of course, yesterday was a bit of a difficult day. It's been a bit of a rough weekend, but I'm really grateful. "As a team, we got a third and fourth. That's great points, and we move forward from here."
Hamilton praises Mercedes mechanic's repair job
Hamilton's weekend was set back by a crash in the final part of qualifying. He started ninth on the grid for the Sprint, but could only gain one position in the race after a lengthy battle with the Haas drivers. In the Grand Prix, well-timed pit-stops helped Hamilton to return to the top four, prior to Sainz's retirement. The Mercedes driver paid tribute to the mechanics who repaired his car after his rare qualifying mishap. "I do really want to say a big thank you to the guys, the men and women in the garage, who worked so hard to rebuild the car," added Hamilton. "I had a brand new car on Saturday morning, something I don't do too often, but I'm thankful to them for working so hard. "We've made some improvements this weekend, so we just have to keep chipping away at it."
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