F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Is Ready To Pounce - "Never Over 'Til It's Over"

Lewis Hamilton might have plotted a strategy for the Qatar Grand Prix but it ended with his DNF.

Despite the Sprint race in Qatar mostly being about Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, there was one driver who was plotting a plan for the Qatar GP on Sunday- Lewis Hamilton. The driver dropped a big hint on the radio after covering several positions in a short span of time before saying "Never over 'til it's over."

"I don’t feel like at this track we need to have track limits,” was probably a warning by Hamilton to himself before the chaotic qualifying on Friday. The Mercedes driver sympathized with other drivers who lost out on Friday but eventually, he was the one who got out on Saturday in SQ2 for exceeding track limits, thus qualifying P12 for the Sprint race. 

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Unlike his teammate George Russell, Hamilton opted for the medium set for the Sprint race which took a while to get up to temperature, when compared to the former's soft option. However, two safety cars at the initial stages of the race didn't help Hamilton much but by the time the third safety car was out, the soft-runners began to struggle as the medium runners began to shine. The seven-time-world champion managed to climb up to P8. 

In the last three laps of the race, Hamilton made up three places from P8 to P5, eventually crossing the finish line behind Russell after an impressive seven-position recovery. That was when he said on the radio “It’s never over until it’s over," to which, team boss Toto Wolff responded, “So Lewis, tomorrow, with a good position, we know what can happen.”

There was a plan in place. Hamilton started in P3 in the Qatar Grand Prix. The optimism was high considering the pace the W14 Mercedes car displayed on Saturday. It was as if the British driver was going to be ready to pounce at the first opportunity. Little did he know that disaster would strike in Turn 1. 

Maybe, Hamilton's plan for the Grand Prix was to attack first, stay consistent, and then speed up again to recover lost positions toward the end of the race. Unfortunately for him and Mercedes, both Mercedes drivers crashed into each other toward Turn 1 after Hamilton pulled alongside Russell around the outside. The pair collided and the 38-year-old was sent sliding backward into the gravel.

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All of Hamilton's plans went for a toss. But teammate Russell might have learned a thing or two from Saturday's strategy because, despite the crash with his teammate, he managed to get back onto the track to finish P4 in the Qatar Grand Prix. Mighty impressive!