The Mercedes team will be pumped up at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada on June 18, having made giant strides in the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend and finished ahead of its main rivals, Aston Martin and Ferrari.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen delivered another masterful performance on Sunday after starting from the pole position, but Mercedes impressed many after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took second and third places — the two British drivers thus climbed on the podium at the same time for the first time this season.
Mercedes admitted the rift between them and Red Bull remains significant, but a certain amount of optimism was blowing through the German team’s garages after the latest technical upgrades to the cars showed their potential.
These innovations could not be tested at Imola due to the floods which led to the cancellation of the Italian Grand Prix. These changes were instead made to the cars in Monaco, but due to the unique peculiarities of this road course it was virtually impossible to draw reliable data from it.
“Our hard work finally paid off,” Hamilton said. It’s great, and all the credit goes to the tireless work of the employees at the factory, to those who never stopped believing in it. I hope everyone at the factory takes some pride [de nos résultats].”
‘Closing the gap behind Red Bull’
By virtue of Hamilton’s second podium of the season, and Russell’s first, Mercedes edged the Aston Martin team to second place in the constructors’ championship. Ferrari is still stuck in fourth place.
“George did a really good job, which allowed us to maximize our points collection,” explained Hamilton. We have to build on that. It was huge for us to be faster than Ferrari and Aston.”
Hamilton took second place after starting from fifth on the starting grid at the Montmelo circuit. Russell rose from the 12e place at the start on the third step of the podium.
“We had a great race here last year,” said Russell, who is fifth in the drivers’ championship, just behind Hamilton. The next few races will be crucial for us to see if we can keep up the pace and close the gap behind Red Bull.
For its part, Aston Martin had one of its worst races of the campaign. Spaniard Fernando Alonso – double world champion and third in the drivers’ championship – settled for seventh position, behind his teammate, Quebecer Lance Stroll.
Ferrari also had a tough time and seemed to be losing ground to their main rivals. Carlos Sainz Jr. finished fifth, while teammate Charles Leclerc finished in 11e place, preventing him from scoring points.
“Our pace was better than theirs,” said Hamilton. Together, as a team, we did a better job than them, made fewer mistakes, and were efficient in every track session.
Mercedes’ next challenge will be to confirm the true potential of its innovations at the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks. Hamilton, who has not triumphed since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021, took third place in Montreal last year, behind Verstappen and Sainz Jr., respectively.
“We are learning more about our car every day. I hope that our car will behave in the same way as this weekend, summed up the seven-time world champion. I hope that from now on we can make uninterrupted progress. Admittedly, the car will not be suitable for all circuits, but I hope it will be the case for the next series of races.