11 August 2023 , 16:41
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Lewis Hamilton heaped praise upon his Mercedes team for the progress made this year despite still being some way off Red Bull.
The Silver Arrows began the year miles away from their Formula 1 rivals in terms of car performance. And Red Bull remain far ahead of Mercedes and everyone else on the grid with a 100 per cent win record for the season still intact.
But even though Hamilton's team still cannot compete with the runaway leaders, their performance gains have been noticeable. Relative to their other rivals closer to them, namely Ferrari and Aston Martin, Mercedes have jumped from being probably fourth fastest on the grid to being second in the pecking order.
And the seven-time world champion took the time to acknowledge all the effort that has gone into making that happen so far. "I've been incredibly proud of everybody. Everyone has been working insanely hard. We've been making big steps," he said.
"I think the biggest step we took was when we got to Monaco and the car has really progressed a lot since then. We have a better understanding of where to position the car. It's been a lot more consistent – podiums, top-five finishes – which has been great. And, generally, we've been getting solid, great reliability. So, there's lots and lots of good bits."
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But he knows that, if his team is to hold on to second in the championship, there is more work to be done. Hamilton added: "I don't know how much developing people will be doing in the second part of the season, but I think there will be movement.
"I don't know what happened to Aston and how they've taken a step back. But I'm sure McLaren was really strong in the second phase. Ferrari were very close so dependent on track, I'm sure there'll be some movement in the positions. I hope that we can be a little better."
It may be the case that, in the latter rounds of this season, one or two teams might be able to fight with Red Bull and Max Verstappen on merit. That's because team principal Christian Horner has admitted that there are no more major upgrades planned for the all-conquering RB19 this year.
But Mercedes and Hamilton may well be powerless to take advantage of that, as Toto Wolff has also said his team is done in terms of developing the W14. "The sails are set for 2024," the Austrian declared as he spoke of the need to focus on being more competitive against Red Bull next season.