Hamilton lauds ‘phenomenal’ team result in Las Vegas as he recovers from P10 to P2

Lewis Hamilton says his recovery from 10th on the grid to second place at the Las Vegas Grand Prix reminded him of his junior days in karting competitions.

Hamilton was left at the foot of the top 10 at the end of qualifying after making mistakes during both of his flying laps in Q3 around the streets of Las Vegas.

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While team-mate George Russell controlled proceedings from pole position during the race, Hamilton gradually displayed immense pace to work his way forwards, and took second place following the final round of stops.

“I had a great time, when you’re progressing it’s always a great feeling,” Hamilton said.

“It felt very much like my old days [karting] at Rye House, starting at the back and coming through – so it was great.

“[It was a] really good balance in the car today, felt a lot better than it was yesterday – particularly Q3 – but it’s just phenomenal for the team.

“It is slightly bittersweet as if we had qualified where we should have yesterday, I think I could have won. Nevertheless, I didn't think I would have been able to finish P2 today before the race so I'm very happy.”

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Mercedes have had a topsy-turvy campaign, with four victories, but also events at which it has fallen away towards the lower reaches of the points-paying positions.

On whether its Las Vegas levels of performance can be sustained across the remaining two Grands Prix, Hamilton replied: “I have no idea! I don’t think anyone in the team knows why we’re as quick as we are this weekend, we’re happy about it, but I think often in the hotter conditions we struggle more.

“Maybe Qatar will be cooler and it’s smooth, at the track we were okay last year, Abu Dhabi maybe less so, but we’ll see.”