‘Chilled’ Lewis Hamilton hails Mercedes team’s work on car since start of season after French Grand Prix success

“CHILLED” Lewis Hamilton hailed the work of his Mercedes team to improve their car after the successful French Grand Prix.

Hamilton and team-mate George Russell have been lagging behind their Red Bull and Ferrari rivals all season due to their underperforming, porpoising vehicles.

https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/1551264541828325376

Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a lie down after the exhausting French Grand Prix[/caption]

However, the pair finished second and third respectively at the Circuit Paul Ricard on Sunday in their best result of the year.

And Hamilton is clearly a lot happier with how things are going thanks to the work done by the engineers back at the factory and on race days.

He posted a picture of him lying down in the waiting room at the end of the French GP, captioning it: “Chilling.”

And the seven-time world champ also added another tweet with celebratory snaps alongside Russell in the baking hot sunshine in Le Castellet.

Hamilton – who lost about 3kg during his maiden second-place finish of 2022 – wrote: “Left it all out there today and P2 is a great result!

“First time up there with @GeorgeRussell63 as well.

“It’s so rewarding to see how far we’ve come since the beginning of the season.

“Still have work to do, but definitely going to enjoy this one!!!”

The French GP was Hamilton’s 300th start in Formula One – and he confessed he could get to 400 before retiring from the sport.

The Brit, 37, has 18 months left to run on his current deal with Mercedes with boss Toto Wolff revealing he has started negotiations with the Stevenage star.

Hamilton said: “That is a lot of races. I just want to be grateful to get to this point.

“But I still feel fresh and there is plenty of fuel in the tank. I am enjoying the process and arriving every day and working with this group of people.

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“And I am enjoying working with this sport.

“There are some great people in this sport and I am enjoying my time more than ever.

“I want to get back to winning ways and I am sure we will sit down together soon.”

Hamilton now has four podiums in a row, although is still down in sixth in the drivers’ standings on 127 points – Max Verstappen leads the way on 233 and looks certain to win back-to-back titles.

Lewis’ team-mate Russell, meanwhile, pounced after a virtual safety car to stun moaning Sergio Perez and snatch the final place on the podium.

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