Clearly disappointed at having lost out to Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton promises to bring his A-game to the British Grand Prix.

Having turned the tables on Friday by claiming pole position for the sport's inaugural Sprint, Lewis Hamilton fully expected to follow it up with a win in the event which would decide the grid for his home race.

Unfortunately, all was lost at the start, and as Max Verstappen got off the line quicker and headed into the first corner, Hamilton did well to slam the door on his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas.

Soon the seven-time champ was hard on the heels of his title rival, desperately seeking a way past the Red Bull through Luffield, getting alongside in Woodcote and trying to go around on the outside in Copse, but to no avail as the Dutchman refused to yield.

After that it was business as usual, the dirty air from the Red Bull never allowing Hamilton close enough to make another bid for the lead, the Briton eventually finishing just 1.430s down on the winner.

Despite his obvious disappointment, Hamilton, who had been cheered around the entire circuit on that first frantic lap, vows to raise his game when it really counts.

"I need everyone to bring their energy again tomorrow," he said in front of the packed grandstands in the moments after the spring, "and I'll come with my A-game.

"I think he had a lot of pace in him today," he said of Verstappen, "and I don't think he was particularly having to push too hard, while we were flat-out.

"Tomorrow's going to be tough," he admitted. "If I can try somehow to keep up with them through the stints, maybe we can apply pressure through strategy, but we're not going to be overtaking them on the track: they're just too fast."

Referring to the moment the race was effectively lost, he said: "Their starts are really great this year and we have lost a bit of performance on ours, so we've got to try to work a bit harder to try to improve that because losing positions is never a great thing."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by alvarezh3, 18/07/2021 17:40

"How wrong I was. I thought that "A-Game" was taken to be driving at qualifying speeds for as long as it took, while it actually means send your opponent to the hospital in exchange for a (slap in the hand) 10" penalty."

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2. Posted by alvarezh3, 18/07/2021 13:40

"@Kenji

Your reasoning is correct. You see, for the last few years he has been able to win championships using "B/C Games" because there was only one other car that on occasion could beat him, there was no need to force himself to execute at maximum, "B/C Games" was enough to take him to the top spot.

Now he is facing real and constant strong competition on most venues, to the point he's not leading the championship.

So yes, this year he has been forced to bring his "A Game" (it's not just for this race), which in all honesty, as we all have seen, has not been enough.

It looks like he needs to bring up his "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Game". :-)
"

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3. Posted by kenji, 18/07/2021 11:58

"If he is going to bring his 'A Game' for the GP what has he been using in the interim,,,his B/C game?"

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4. Posted by alvarezh3, 18/07/2021 8:19

"Sound as if he has told his corner to have the towel at hand."

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Hamilton to bring his A-game

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