Hamilton expressed in plain language that he felt “contaminated”. After the safety car veered off the track, the Briton dropped from first to fourth. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, “At that moment I lost control for a while, but the team knows I’m very excited,” said Hamilton, 37.

Several drivers, including Max Verstappen and George Russell, stopped behind the safety car to get new (soft) tires. Hamilton was unable to defend himself on the old tires in the final stage. Successively passed Verstappen (Red Bull), Russell (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who finished on the podium with the three of them.

This safety car was uncomfortable for us, because we were just closing the gap with Red Bull. “It removed the advantage we had,” Hamilton said. “I felt like everything was slipping through my fingers. We haven’t won a race in a long time and I was hoping we could score one and two here in Zandvoort. Anyway, the cup is half full: our stops were great and at least we were able to fight for victory. We will keep chasing and we will win again this season.”

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