Lewis Hamilton issues ‘clean’ response to Carlos Sainz’s ‘ran me off track’ protest
Lewis Hamilton will take Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari seat in F1 2025
Lewis Hamilton responded to Carlos Sainz’s assessment of his overtake in the Spanish Grand Prix by saying it felt “pretty awesome” for him, and that it was ultimately a “clean” pass.
Sainz felt Hamilton had run him off track when he moved past at Turn 1, taking the inside line in a crucial move for his race after the first round of pit stops on his way to a first podium of the season.
Lewis Hamilton feels overtake on Carlos Sainz was ‘clean’ in Barcelona
Sainz had protested that Hamilton had pushed him off the circuit in moving past, with the Ferrari driver heading towards the outside at Turn 2 as he was forced to yield.
While the stewards initially noted the overtake, they decided not to investigate for forcing another driver off track. When Sainz was informed of this on team radio at the time, he responded: “I don’t understand why there’s a rulebook and we don’t follow it.”
“I felt like he ran me off the track, and I was half a car length ahead,” the Spanish driver added to media including PlanetF1.com after the chequered flag fell.
“Normally, the rule this year says that if you’re ahead around the outside, they need to give you space.
“That’s normally what the stewards have ruled this year. So I was trying to benefit from that rule.”
More post-race analysis from the Spanish Grand Prix
Ranked: The current F1 pecking order from slowest F1 2024 race car to fastest
Uncovered: How Mercedes beat Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix with upgraded W15
On the other side of the coin, Mercedes driver Hamilton believes he left Sainz enough room to manoeuvre and gave his side of the story – with team principal Toto Wolff having put Hamilton’s move and George Russell’s start among “two of the best overtakes I’ve seen in a long time” in his post-race assessment.
“Pretty awesome for me,” Hamilton told Sky F1 after the race when asked for his perspective on the overtake.
“I think it was clean. Ultimately, he didn’t cover the full inside line. He left the door open, which I went for, a late move up alongside.
“I think we were wheel to wheel; we were still on the track so I left him plenty – I left him space as much as I could.”
Hamilton’s podium at the Spanish Grand Prix meant he continues his run of having scored at least one top-three finish in every season of his Formula 1 career, taking his career tally to 198.
Read next: Lewis Hamilton sabotage email investigation update as police issue statement
