Hamilton pumps the brakes on Mercedes hype: 'A pinch of salt'
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton stood on the Formula 1 podium for the first time in 238 days but wants to remain cautious over the progress Mercedes have made in recent weeks. He has praised the Mercedes team, but has asked for more in the coming weeks to put them in an ever better position.
Mercedes seemingly improved in Canada, but optimism was on hold due to the unique circuit, unique conditions and unique circumstances of Ferrari and Sergio Perez being out of the running. Mercedes confirmed their gains by beating Ferrari in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. They also outscored them by nine points.
"It's a big boost to finally get a good result, it's been a minute since I've been up here in the race so a huge huge thank you to the team who've done an amazing job with all the processes through the race weekend but particularly everyone back in the factory for working so hard, the extra long hours to bring components to the car. We're slowly, slowly getting closer," Hamilton said.
Why Hamilton remains cautious about the result
Hamilton looks back to the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, where both Mercedes drivers stood on the podium with Max Verstappen. "Last year we were very fast here, so you have to take it with a pinch of salt. I think we have closed the gap a little bit, but we still have a good couple of tenths to try and find. We need all hands on deck. We're always fine-tuning it with subtle changes that we make. We need to bolt some stuff on some extra bits to be able to fight with these guys," Hamilton told his Mercedes team.