LEWIS Hamilton admitted that he and teammate Valtteri Bottas may have been lucky last night as they claimed a surprise one-two in the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2019.
The Mercedes pair were chasing Ferrari rivals Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel all weekend, but in a stunning turn of events managed to clinch the victory in the final laps of the night spectacle at Bahrain International Circuit.
Hamilton registered the 74th win of his Formula 1 career and third in Bahrain, which was the second round of this year’s FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the 999th in the history of the top flight.
Speaking in the post-race Press conference, Hamilton said: “Today was a really, really hard job. This weekend the Ferraris have been incredible and I just had to see Charles because he did such a great job.
Devastating
“I’m sure this is a devastating result for him as he had done the job to win the race. We were definitely lucky today but you have to take it as it comes.
“Ultimately, I still gave it everything in the race and I pushed as hard as I could.
“This is a great result for the team considering how hard the race was.
“This guy here [Leclerc] has lots more wins coming in the future, so congratulations to him.”
Hamilton has never finished off the podium in Bahrain since the current turbo-hyrbid era began in 2014, making for a remarkable run of success in the Sakhir desert race.
Bottas also believes they were lucky with their result.
“I think as a team we got a bit lucky today but we kept it together, we did no mistake as a team and the car was very reliable – and that’s the win today,” said the race runner-up.
“The hard work at the factory is paying off like this, so that is good.”
Pole-sitter Leclerc, who was having a dream weekend and who posted yesterday’s fastest lap, remained positive despite his heartbreaking engine problems that cost him what was virtually a sure win.
“I think from the whole weekend there are a lot of positives to take,” he said. “After Australia we were quite a lot far off. I think we found some answers – not all of them – but we found some.
“We came here, front row lock-out, which was very positive for the team, and we showed that they have done an amazing job. That doesn’t mean we’ll stay there for the rest of the season but that just shows off how good of a job they’ve done between the two races.
“Probably we were the strongest today; unfortunately, the issues stopped us winning – but, on the other hand, issues always happen in a season and, if any time I have an issue, I finish third, then I think we could be quite happy.
“I’m pretty sure the team will work for this but they should be proud about what they’ve done this weekend, and we’ll come back stronger.”