Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the Dutch Grand Prix, losing control of his car amid the rainy conditions.
He qualified strongly, less than a tenth away from his speedy teammate, Charles Leclerc.
The seven-time champion had a visibly rough first half of the season, but he arrived at Zandvoort with renewed energy and confidence.
All of his hard work during Friday and Saturday did not matter in the end, as he came away empty-handed points-wise.
According to Sky Sports Germany’s F1 pundit, Ralf Schumacher, there is still visible pressure put on the British icon.
“I’m slowly getting a bit at a loss, because he can do it on the one hand, but he’s apparently under immense pressure, puts himself under pressure,” Schumacher said on Sky Sport DE.
“If something doesn’t happen soon, I don’t know how he’s better advised to continue there or whatever.
“It is tragic at the moment to see him like this. Although the speed is still there, but there’s just too much going on around it.”
While Hamilton is known for carrying himself in front of reporters with visible disappointment at times, he did not appear to be carrying the pressure that Schumacher mentioned.
He sounded noticeably upbeat despite his own mistake.
“I feel fine mentally,” Hamilton told the media. “I felt lots of positives. I felt like I was making progress. I was catching the car ahead.
“It’s tough to have a result like that, for sure. I’ve been racing for so long. I’ve had God knows how many races in my life. I’m probably counting on one hand that sort of incident.”
It was not only Hamilton who was happy about his own performance, but also his boss, team principal Fred Vasseur.
“This was a bit of a special one,” he said.
“The track was damp during the first drizzle and he [Hamilton] was wider than the lap before. We need to investigate if something happened on the car, but I don’t think so.
“Overall the reaction from Lewis was good; he was up to the pace of the car and of Charles from the beginning of the weekend, catching up Russell and fighting with him. It was a good recovery after two tough races before the break, but the outcome is not the one expected.”
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