Lewis Hamilton: “It’s a big boost to finally get a good result”
Lewis Hamilton reached the podium for the first time this year thanks to his performance at the Spanish Grand Prix and in qualifying on Saturday. The seven-time world champion is delighted with his progress at Mercedes.
After the first podium this year for Mercedes in Montreal with George Russell, it’s Lewis Hamilton’s turn to step onto the third step in Spain, confirming the good shape of the German team. The Briton is reassured to see the improvements made by Mercedes. “It’s a big boost to finally get a good result. It’s been a while since I was up there in the race. A huge, huge thank you to the team. We did an incredible job with all the processes during the race weekend, but especially by coming back to the factory to work so hard, putting in extra hours to bring components to the car,” he praised.
According to him, Mercedes is slowly getting closer to the top of the grid. However, he claims that the result should be taken with a grain of salt since the team was also very fast here last year, with a double podium. « I think we have reduced the gap a bit, but we still have a few tenths to find. So, we will all work hard and continue to push. »
Mercedes increasingly competitive.
Does Mercedes still owe technical evolutions to the car? According to him, it is the maximum for the moment. But we always adjust with subtle changes that we make. We continue to adjust it throughout the year. But we have to add additional elements in order to compete with these guys, he said, addressing Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
What is certain for him is that Mercedes is building a good dynamic. “We are becoming more and more consistent. And if I can just get qualifications like this weekend, it will make Sunday much easier. And even more, if we have a good start. But my Saturdays have been so bad in the last 15 races. It’s good to have a clean weekend. I hope this puts us in a good position to challenge (others) in the upcoming races.”
An incident with Carlos Sainz?
We witnessed some great overtakes during the Spanish Grand Prix, notably two by Lewis Hamilton on Carlos Sainz. The first one did not sit well with the Spaniard, who felt he was pushed and asked for his position to be given back to him. In vain.
« It’s never a good thing, it’s not a good feeling when you get overtaken », the Briton said to explain the frustration of the Ferrari driver. « I think we had a good tight battle at turn 1. I gave him space, so I think he was still on the track. But he left the door open on the inside, didn’t completely close it. So, I went on the inside and tried to make the turn. I think he came back. I think we touched wheels, nothing major, it was like a little scuffle. I left him space on the exit », he concluded.
And for the next races? Lewis Hamilton predicts that McLaren and Red Bull will still be very fast at Silverstone in particular. But I hope that we can get a little closer to them and give them a bit more of a hard time in the next four or five races. Then, we just have to keep bringing improvements. We have to keep improving the car. There is a clear improvement, and there are just clear areas where we need to add performance to be in the final.
