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Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes' 2022 F1 Mexican GP performance was their best this season. The Briton felt his car was at its best at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, compared to other tracks this season.
Speaking at a post-race press conference in Mexico City, Hamilton said:
"Yeah, it's so, so many positives, to take from this weekend. And, yeah, this is definitely the most competitive and the best the car has felt all year – and that is truly down to the amazing work from all the women and men back at the factory, who have just been doing such an amazing job. And not giving up. I think it's just been a real showing of resilience, and perseverance. And I'm so happy to be kind of back in that fight. We saw in the last race, kind of, almost having a chance to win. And I don't know what the car will be like in these next races. I'm hoping in Brazil, something special may come of it. But we'll see."
Lewis Hamilton felt his car performed at its best in the 2022 F1 Mexican GP circuit and reflected the efforts put in by the Mercedes factory personnel all year long. The reason the Mercedes W13 performed better in Mexico was that its high drag levels were neutralized by the low air density in Mexico City. The British champion managed to split the two Red Bull cars by finishing second, as he did at the same venue last year.
Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes' strategy did not favor him in the race
Lewis Hamilton used the hard tire compound to finish his race and became a casualty of Max Verstappen, who was on the medium tires. The Mercedes strategy was countered by the Red Bull team but the Briton believes having his teammate outside the top-three made it difficult to defend the Red Bulls.
Explaining the strategy they used in the race, Hamilton said:
"I mean, I kept telling them the tyre was fine, but I'm assuming that they were coming into my window. Sergio had already stopped. So I'm assuming they… they were going much quicker than me perhaps. So, if we stayed out longer, I would have come out behind Sergio and it would have been all over. So, I think that's the reason. Unfortunately, at the beginning, obviously had a good battle through Turns 1 and 2 but obviously my teammate got jumped by Sergio, so I was basically tag-teamed by the Red Bulls. It's very, very hard in strategy when you don't have both cars there. I think Sergio was able to come in and pull me in, which definitely hindered our strategy."
With a significant difference in performance between the hard tire and the medium tire, the choice to stay out on the former till the end did not pay off for Lewis Hamilton. With Sergio Perez behind him, the tires made it very difficult for Hamilton to hunt down his 2021 rival, who managed to pull out a significant lead ahead of him. Notably, however, the 2022 F1 Mexican GP result was the 190th podium of the Briton's career.
