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Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole position for the 2023 Hungarian GP with a brilliant qualifying lap on Saturday. The following day, his qualifying heroics went in vain, as he endured a poor start to his race.
Lining up alongside his rival Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid, Hamilton lost the lead in the first corner after a poor getaway. The Mercedes driver claimed that he was pushed wide by the Dutchman at the first corner, but David Coulthard dismissed his complaints, suggesting that Verstappen had no other option.
The former McLaren driver sympathized with Lewis Hamilton for the poor start but felt that Verstappen had put up a fair fight, having gotten a better launch. Coulthard made the comments on Channel 4 while re-watching the eventful race start.
"You’ve got to feel for him, I think as he got off the line, the initial reaction from both drivers was pretty much the same, but then in that secondary phase, that’s where Max Verstappen was able to get it up the inside."
“Inevitably, once Lewis decided to try and run it out, then he was going to get pushed wide. What else would he expect Max Verstappen to do?” he said.
After losing the lead to the reigning champion, Lewis Hamilton lost position to McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who snuck into second place, taking the wide-open inside line. Lando Norris pulled off a brilliant move on the third corner, that dropped Hamilton to P4 in the course of three corners.
Hamilton himself termed the race start one of the worst of his career and explained that he had wheelspin during the launch. On the contrary, Verstappen, who had a string of bad race starts previously, enjoyed a brilliant getaway despite starting on the dirty side of the grid.
Nico Rosberg puzzled after the latest updates on Lewis Hamilton's contract emerge
Ahead of the Hungarian GP, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealed that Lewis Hamilton hadn't signed the new contract but they had "emotionally" agreed upon it.
Toto Wolff's comments left his former Mercedes driver baffled, as Nico Rosberg couldn't comprehend what his former boss meant. Expressing his confusion in a discussion with Sky F1 pundits, he said:
“Can someone tell me what that means, when the contract is emotionally done? I have no idea where that [came from], or why Lewis is taking so much time, but all of us hope that he will continue, of course,” he said.
While the negotiations continue, the former F1 champion believes that results such as pole position in Hungary will motivate Lewis Hamilton to stay with the team. He added:
“It really seems to be the case. I mean, especially with the car progressing now, that’s going to help that contract process also because, once Lewis now feels the possibility ‘hey, I can do pole positions again, I can win races’, [he’ll] want to continue doing this.”
While the timing of the announcement of the new contract remains uncertain, the seven-time F1 champion is expected to remain with the Silver Arrows.
