Hamilton hails “important” first Mercedes win

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton says his first victory for Mercedes in today’s Hungarian Grand Prix was an important moment in his career.

“This is probably one of the most important wins of my grand prix career,” said Hamilton. “To move to a new team and to win for Mercedes-Benz is a real privilege.”

“The guys have done an exceptional job, I’m so glad I’m part of the team and I really couldn’t be happier,” he added. “I hope there’s many more to come.”

Hamilton said his win, which came on a day when Mercedes were expected to struggle in high ambient temperatures, was a positive sign for their chances in the championship:

“We’ve got to work hard. You never know how well the tyres are going to last elsewhere but if we can come here and make our tyres last then we should be able to do it anywhere so fingers crossed.”

He admitted to being surprised how well the car performed during the race: “We studied a lot last night, we were hoping that the tyres would work for us and we really had no idea it was going to go that well. The last 20 laps I was just managing the tyres and cruising.”

“I think you could tell I was hungry for it today,” Hamilton added after a race which hinged on crucial passes on Mark Webber and Jenson Button. “I was just going all out.

“I needed to get past those people and usually I get stuck in traffic, generally, in my races, and today I wasn’t having it, I was going for every move I had.”

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “Hamilton hails “important” first Mercedes win”

  1. Wonderful win … Congrats Lewis….

    Thanks to button for the incredible hold up of Vettel on his second stint. Otherwise he would have won this comfortably….

    1. I followed the times the entire race, Merc were on par if not faster than Red Bull the entire time, I think Lewis would have won no matter what, but it wouldn’t have been that easy

    2. Jean-Christophe
      28th July 2013, 17:30

      There’s no guarantee that Vettel would have won comfortably. It’s not as if Hamilton did not have pace today.

    3. That’s not thanks to Button, Hamilton also had to pass Button but he did it straight away while Vettel had some difficulties, that’s all and that’s what makes the difference over a grand prix. Hamilton also had to putt some important pass and he did it, all credit to him (and the car).

  2. Not sure about its importance, although It must be good to have that first win for Mercedes under his belt, when his teammate has 3 already.

    And its a good time in the season to do it as well, before the brake and at the half point of the season with power tracks to come that might suit them.

    1. I expect Merc to win Spa and Monza comfortably, really comfortably

    2. Erm….his teammate has 2 wins – Monaco & Silverstone. This win was more dominant than either of those two, with no other factors involved, on the hottest race so far – which makes it important as it means that Mercedes are finally sorting out thier tyre woes.

  3. im surprise the Merc didn’t face any degradation on the hottest track.

    Finally got the tire they could win on Sunday. Its gonna be pure domination from 2nd half of the season onwards.

    1. Makes you wonder why the merc is so inconsistent from track to track. Maybe its not the heat but rather the roughness of the circuit that causes the issues?

    2. Jean-Christophe
      28th July 2013, 17:34

      The circuit is not hard on tyres.

  4. Sintilating weekend from Lewis all-round.

    Those overtakes!!!
    Seb can learn a thing or two from that.

    Still can’t believe Redbull said ‘no’ to Lewis when he came knocking. They must have thought their car will be dominant forever, no need for a driver who can:
    – Drag a dog by the scruff of the neck
    – Overtake
    – Qualify

    Well Seb would suffice for the last one, but the first two is also quite critical.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      28th July 2013, 22:01

      @jason12 Red Bull doesn’t need a driver who can:
      – Tweet telemetry for spite
      – Crumble every time his GF leaves
      – Lie to stewards
      And yep, I think 3 titles against one would suffice

      1. Hey what about his tattoos…..

        He plays a guitar!…

        Is friends with Rihanna!….

        The list goes on….

        1. @jason12

          Well, the fact that you’ve implied Vettel can’t overtake, or drag a dog of a car, suggests that your argument holds up as well as a pack of playing cards hit by a tsunami.

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