Hamilton has urged Toto Wolff to keep bringing upgrades to the W15 after admitting that Mercedes are not quite on par with Red Bull and McLaren yet. The seven-time world champion beat George Russell to claim his first podium finish of the season in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
There was little optimism in the Mercedes camp after the Monaco Grand Prix, but just two race weekends later, the eight-time world champions look to have finally solved the puzzle of the W15. The Silver Arrows have had cars on the podium in both Montreal and Barcelona and are trending towards a race win.
On Sunday, Hamilton secured his first podium of the year, capping a weekend in which he dominated teammate Russell throughout. But the great British driver isn’t sitting back and understands that Mercedes needs to keep getting better if he wants to compete with drivers like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Assessing the gap to the teams around them, Hamilton said: “We’re slowly getting closer. Last year, we were very fast here, so you have to take it with a pinch of salt, but obviously the last couple of races we’ve been relatively competitive.
“So, I think we have closed the gap a little bit, but we still have a good couple of tenths to try and find. We just have to have all hands-on deck and keep pushing.” Hamilton was then asked whether or not there was more to extract from Mercedes’ new floor and front wing. “No, I think that’s the maximum it’s got at the moment,” he replied.
