Lewis Hamilton's philosophical take of 'when you fall or stumble to get back up' after his recovery drive in the 2023 F1 Dutch GP 

Lewis Hamilton drove immensely during the Dutch Grand Prix after a mistake by the team left him out on the slick tires despite the rain.

The Dutch Grand Prix started off on a dry circuit but by the end of the first lap, showers took over Zandvoort and multiple drivers, including race leader Max Verstappen, pitted for the intermediates.

Meanwhile, Hamilton, who had started the race P13, was asked by Mercedes to stay out as the rain would go away soon. Being on the slick tires, he kept losing positions to other drivers and dropped as far down as P18.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said:

"As a team, we made the wrong decision. Ultimately, it was the team’s call and we’ve paid the price for that, but then we came out last and I think after that, I just was chasing, kept my head down."

However, the track was dry soon and the entire grid was on slick tires. Lewis Hamilton kept driving phenomenally well. At one point, he had to battle his teammate George Russell while both drivers were in points, but he made his way through.

Russell had to retire from the race after making contact with Lando Norris and puncturing his tire by the very end of the race. Hamilton was good enough to bring in P6 for the team.

The seven-time world champion said that this was as result of his will to "get back up, keep trying."

"I think it was a really good example of just like when you fall or stumble to get back up, keep trying, and every time I had to pit I came out behind and kept just chasing and chasing."

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Lewis Hamilton was confident to be on the podium in the race

Although qualifying left him miserable at P13, Lewis Hamilton felt that the pace in the Mercedes W14 was good enough to give him decent battles at the top. It's been a while since he has been seen battling within the top two, but that is what he believed he could have achieved in the race.

The team made a mistake by keeping the seven-time world champion out on the slick tires and hence he lost a handful of places. Regardless, he finished P6 and is confident that if it wasn't for the mishap that happened at the start, he could have been in the top two if he had DRS to battle with Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari.

"I was really happy that I got past the McLaren [of Lando Norris] for example on this track, it’s not so easy to do and I was quicker than [Carlos] Sainz at the end, just needed to get DRS," Lewis Hamilton said.

"I think today, I think I had the pace in the conditions, if we had made the right call, I had the pace to be challenging for the top two," he added.