Lewis Hamilton finished second at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday behind Max Verstappen; Mercedes had a double podium as George Russell held off Sergio Perez in the closing laps to take third; F1 returns in Canada from June 16-18 with all sessions live on Sky Sports F1
Monday 5 June 2023 10:41, UK
Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes have "something in the pipeline" as he urged his team to take "big chunks" out of Red Bull.
Hamilton equalled his best result of the 2023 season so far by finishing second at the Spanish Grand Prix behind Max Verstappen.
He was 11 seconds off the world championship leader when he overtook Carlos Sainz on Lap 29 and finished the race 24 seconds behind the Dutchman after 66 laps around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
"With the current car we have I don't think we'll be matching their performance, but we are working on improving the car," explained Hamilton.
"With the current package we are limited to the pace that we had today, but there's a huge amount of work and studying and improvements that we hopefully will have coming in the future.
"Naturally they should probably also be progressing through the year, so we need to be taking big chunks out of them with every step we take.
"Today they were a good few tenths ahead of us, maybe half a second ahead of us per lap. On a single lap that's a little bit bigger.
"I think we are going in the right direction and I know we have something in the pipeline moving forwards.
"I'm hoping at least by the end of the year it would be great if we could challenge them. For me I'm more focused on making sure that we have the car next year to challenge them from day one.
"The further we continue to push this car this year, the more that impacts next year also in some ways. The more we learn about this car also sets us in the right direction. It's trying to find the right balance."
He added: "They [Red Bull] are so far ahead and ultimately Max will continue to win this year. That means they can start on their development for next year sooner and earlier than everyone else if they haven't already and that's the danger."
Mercedes brought a major upgrade package to the Monaco Grand Prix, including new sidepods and a new suspension.
The unique nature of Monaco meant they were not able to collect much valuable data, whereas Barcelona is a more conventional circuit.
"It was definitely the best the car has been for the last year and a half so that's kudos to the amazing group of people we have back at the factory continuing to work hard and push the car forwards," said Hamilton.
"It's felt the best yesterday and today that it's felt for the past 14 or 15 months. That's super encouraging I think, not only for me but for everybody in the team.
"This will be a big boost for everybody's morale and we'll take that energy on to developing the car."
In 2022, Mercedes were also strong at the Spanish Grand Prix as George Russell finished third and Hamilton recovered from an off on the opening lap to take fifth.
However, they didn't have much success for the rest of the season as Hamilton went winless in an F1 campaign for the first time in his career.
His last win came in December 2021 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and he hopes Mercedes can "lift the overall performance of the car" to narrow the gap to Red Bull.
"They normally say if you are quick in Barcelona the car should generally be good everywhere. I think we will be strong in the next races," he added.
"There will be times where the Aston is maybe slightly ahead or the Ferrari maybe is ahead but I think our race pace continues to be a strength of ours, as it was last year.
"I think this weekend particularly we understand the car even more so we can count on that being strong moving forwards."
Mercedes' double podium in Spain saw them jump Aston Martin in the constructors' championship to move into second place by 18 points.
Toto Wolff says Mercedes needed a "wake-up call" earlier in the season but that the W14 is now "a good car".
"Let's keep our expectations real. There's such a long way to go in order to catch Red Bull. We just need to grind away," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
"It's a good moment to see that the development direction is right. We just need to chip away and we are really good at grinding. Once there is a setup direction and development direction, we will just go for it. We have that advantage of development time.
"Today the temperatures suited us - not too hot, not too cold. The car was in a mega window."
Red Bull have won each of the seven races this year, while Verstappen is 43 points ahead of Sergio Perez in the drivers' championship.
Christian Horner was keen to focus on his own team but credited Mercedes when asked by Sky Sports F1 about whether they will become a concern for Red Bull.
"It was still 23 seconds behind at the end of the race. They made a good step, but we've got some stuff in the pipeline," replied Horner.
"They have had a big upgrade and we have got some bits coming later in the season. For sure it was a big step. They are a quality team and will be putting us under pressure in the second half of the year."
Verstappen, who made it a hat-trick of wins with victory in Spain, is on course for a third world title but thinks F1 will be better if it was more competitive at the front.
He previously stated the sport should keep the same regulations, so the field has more chance of converging.
On whether Mercedes are now his main rival: "These are all question marks I cannot really answer. It can be track dependent. I can't answer that question because I don't know."
When asked if he would like another championship battle with Hamilton he said: "It's great for the sport in general if you have more teams fighting up front.
"I think that's what they want to achieve so honestly, that would be amazing to have more drivers really up there. Hopefully throughout the year it will get closer and maybe next year there will be more teams up there."
F1 returns in Canada from June 16-18 with all sessions live on Sky Sports F1, including race coverage from 5.30pm on Sunday June 18
