Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes’ race pace and ability to get both cars on the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix made for a “very special” result for the team.
George Russell climbed from 12th to third behind Hamilton, who had comfortably cleared Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz to end up as Max Verstappen’s nearest challenger in Barcelona. With Mercedes moving up to second in the constructors’ championship and becoming the first team other than Red Bull to score a double podium, Hamilton says the race takes on added significance after recent upgrades were introduced.
“This one was very special,” Hamilton said. “I think we got a great reception from the crowd here. And to be able to share the podium with my teammate is really special, given just the journey that we’ve been on together to try and close the gap to the guys ahead. This is a really amazing day for us.
“The car felt great today. Friday was a real struggle with the balance; it was way out the window. It was very, very hard to drive, very unpredictable, and then we did some great work overnight. We’ve got a great team with Mick (Schumacher) back at the simulator on Friday night — he did some great work which helped us get on the right track on Saturday.
“I think we did pretty decent work in trying to understand the different downforce levels. And the race today…the car felt great, honestly. I couldn’t match the times that Max was doing, but I think…for George to come from 12th to third is just remarkable. A really awesome result for us as a team.”
Perhaps the biggest threat to Hamilton’s race was contact with Lando Norris at the second corner, with the McLaren driver running into the back of the Mercedes and damaging his own front wing.
“I just felt a big hit from behind. Obviously Max and Carlos went quite wide and deep into Turn 1. But then they were coming back across, and I basically got in the wake so I had to be patient, and then I got a hit from behind.
“I think it was a shame for Lando because he did such an amazing job yesterday. It’s great to see McLaren up there on the second row. And I think today, probably, even if he was ahead of me going into the corner, we would have overtaken him because we had slightly better pace I would say, race-trim wise. It ended up not being a great result for him. If he was just a little bit more patient today, I think he would have probably had a better result, but we live and we learn.”