Sunday: A point “heroically” earned for Hamilton and McLaren

Lewis Hamilton – 10th:

« I am exhausted. I was told after the race that the rear anti-roll bar broke a few laps after the second stop. However, I could drive safely and tried my best despite that, pushing all along, but it was extremely hard to maintain a good pace. The balance changed from corner to corner, the car wiggled in the straights, and it degraded the tires, which meant we lost even more time being forced to adopt a three-stop strategy.

To make things even more difficult, I also picked up a strip of astroturf that wrapped around the pontoon air strake during the final laps. It got caught on the diffuser, so I had no rear downforce at the end, which made it even more challenging to hold on to the tenth place.

Regarding the title, logic suggests that it’s probably over for me. That said, there are still many points to take, so I will continue to attack. Stranger things have happened and I will never give up.

The feelings are not good on a day like this, but behind every cloud hides a glimmer of hope. Days like this reveal the true mindset that drives you.

Jenson Button – Retirement:

« I got a really good start and I was able to pass the two Mercedes. In the first corner, there was a small accident in front of me [with Sergio Pérez], so I was forced to go wide and push Nico [Rosberg] to the outside of the track.

Nico and I had a good race against each other on the straight. I braked really late into turn 3, then suddenly Kamui [Kobayashi]’s car climbed up the right side of my car. It’s extremely disappointing. It’s a long race with so many opportunities for everyone [and] it’s a great circuit for overtaking, so it’s surprising to see people behave like that on the first lap.

I no longer have a realistic chance of winning the world championship, so I will enjoy myself during the last four races. Scoring points for the team in the Constructors’ Championship will be my top priority, so I will focus on scoring as many as possible.