"I lost it for a second"- Lewis Hamilton apologizes to Mercedes after harsh remarks during 2022 F1 Dutch GP

Lewis Hamilton apologized to his team for lashing out at them over the radio during the closing stages of the 2022 Dutch GP. The Briton was heard using foul language with his team after they put him on Medium tires towards the end of the race.

Hamilton came painfully close to securing his first win of the 2022 season, showcasing his championship-winning pace in Zandvoort. However, when a late retirement from Yuki Tsunoda triggered a safety car, his team put him on Medium compound tires against Max Verstappen, who was on a set of faster Softs.

The Dutchman immediately pounced on the seven-time world champion at the safety car restart and went on to win the race. To make matters worse for the Mercedes driver, he dropped out of the podium places to finish the race in P4 despite his stellar performance all weekend.

Lewis Hamilton later apologized to his team for his radio reaction, citing that he was caught up in the heat of the moment. He said:

"My apologies to the team. I don't know what I said, I lost it for a second and I think they know it's so much passion. I want to look at it as a glass half full. We struggled coming here from Spa and fighting against the Red Bulls. We were quicker than most, but if it were for the safety car I think we would have challenged [Verstappen] on the one-stop, which I don't think the others could do."

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Lewis Hamilton downplayed Max Verstappen's performance at the 2022 Dutch GP

Lewis Hamilton deflected away from commenting on Max Verstappen’s driving or performance in the 2022 F1 season. The Briton praised Red Bull as a team and their chief designer Adrian Newey, crediting the driver’s success to them.

Asked to comment on Verstappen’s performance at a team media session, which included Sportskeeda, ahead of the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, the Briton replied:

“It’s more... [impressive] with Adrian Newey and his team. I think the team, it is a great team. They’ve generally had really great cars for some time."

"[Red Bull have] done a fantastic job and anything I would have said in the past about the team, I didn’t mean it in a negative way.”

Lewis Hamilton is close to winning his first race in 2022, with his team having developed the most reliable car on the grid. However, with Max Verstappen riding a wave of confidence, it is unclear whether anyone can stop the flying Dutchman.