Hamilton hails ‘really mega’ progress for Mercedes after double podium in Spain

Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to the efforts of Mercedes’ workforce after he and team mate George Russell claimed a double podium finish with their upgraded W14s at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Mercedes introduced sweeping car changes last time out in Monaco, including a move away from their ‘zero-sidepods’, but this weekend’s visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya represented the package’s first true test on a more conventional track.

READ MORE: Verstappen cruises to Spanish GP win ahead of Hamilton and Russell as he extends championship lead

On race day, Hamilton emerged as Red Bull rival Max Verstappen’s nearest challenger to take second position, while Russell underlined the team’s raw pace with an impressive rise from 12th to third.

Reflecting on the progress Mercedes have seemingly made, Hamilton said: “This is what we were hoping for when we brought the upgrades. I mean we’d hoped for more in the sense of a bigger step.

“The actual performance step they told us was under two-tenths, so it wasn’t like a... That’s still good, not the step that everyone is working so hard towards, but we’ll still take it.

“But this result is definitely what we were working towards. This is amazing and it’s down to all the great, great work that is going on with the people back at the factory, keeping their heads down. I hope everyone is feeling really proud back at the factory.

“George did a really good job today, so we delivered good points on a whole. We’ve just got to try to keep this up. For us to be quicker than the Ferraris and the Astons today was really mega.”

READ MORE: ‘We have to keep on working’ – Verstappen vows not to ease off after fifth win of 2023 as he gets set for Mercedes challenge

Asked if the result was more down to Aston Martin and Ferrari falling back, rather than Mercedes leaping forward, Hamilton added: “That’s not the way I like to look at it; I like to look at the glass half full, so I think we generally had better pace than them.

“Collectively as a team, we generally did a better job, we made less mistakes, we delivered through the sessions, a great strategy today, for example, so yeah.”

Mercedes’ double podium sees them move up to second in the constructors’ standings, taking advantage of Aston Martin’s low-key performance to go from one point behind to 18 ahead.