This one meant a lot – and for Lewis Hamilton it was all about the context. “Those laps were some of my… I couldn’t do any better, really,” Hamilton said. Hamilton is making his point in his own way, and powerfully he did it, too. Hamilton lost the lead to Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari there in 2018, and he won’t want to do it again. Leclerc, lacking a tow in the first session, very nearly didn’t – he was 15th and the last man to make it through. Ferrari had better make it a good one, or they are staring at this for another year and more.

Follow MotorMouth on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•