Lewis Hamilton finally returned to the podium roster at the Spanish GP for the first time since Mexico in 2023. After putting on a mega lap to edge his teammate, George Russell, for P3 in qualifying, Hamilton was quite bullish about taking the fight to the top two to end his win hiatus in F1. However, it was all too much to do for the seven-time champion, as he had to settle for P3, 17 seconds off the race winner, Max Verstappen.
Despite that, Hamilton admitted how it was a good weekend in Barcelona for Mercedes but knew what kept him away from challenging the top two even for a few laps. According to Sky Sports, Hamilton stated, “Unfortunately, I got a really bad start and lost ground to the Ferraris, so it was a battle to get back.”
“With a better start… I don’t know if we could have held on to the guys ahead but I don’t think we would have been as far behind”, the Briton added.
While Hamilton did not get the chance to fight for the win, he had a good race, for which he laid the foundation since the weekend began. The #44 driver cited how he made his tire choices clear to the team for the Grand Prix.
Closing in on 200 trips to the podium in Formula 1 #F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/X89weH646g
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 23, 2024
With everyone in the top 10 starting on soft tires, Hamilton did not get the best of starts and Russell overtook him. However, as the race unfolded, the seven-time champion got back in the mix with the pit stops.
On the other hand, Russell fell back due to a slow stop and the choice of using the hard tire for his last stint. However, Hamilton’s race wasn’t all smooth as he had some contact with Carlos Sainz and had to make some tough overtakes. Regardless, the 39-year-old edged out Russell to take the final step on the podium.
The contrasting fortunes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in Spain
Russell got himself right into the fight for the win at the Spanish GP start by throwing his elbows out to overtake both Verstappen and Norris into Turn 1. However, it all came undone for the #63 driver as he lost ground due to a slow first stop in the race.
Later on, when Russell came into the pits earlier than expected, he went on the hard tires, which was a big error on Mercedes’ part. The 26-year-old was sliding all over the place as the hard tire was not the optimal tire for this race weekend.
This had been evident during the long runs on Friday, with the hard tire even showing more degradation relative to the medium. Thus, the ideal strategy was soft-medium-soft, which Lewis Hamilton followed like the rest of the lead pack.
Mega start into the lead and some fun battles. Only P4 in the end but plenty of positives with good points for the team and strong pace all weekend. Let’s keep it up. Bring on Austria. pic.twitter.com/LY205BT1xy
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) June 23, 2024
Russell too admitted that his strategy was not ideal as he stated, “The slow pitstop put me on the back foot a little bit in the middle stint and then I was forced to pit a bit early at the end. That hard tire was pretty rubbish. We knew P3, P4 was the maximum and we had to protect that result. I was a little bit disappointed not to be standing on the podium but Lewis did a great job.”
Russell would now want to bounce back in Austria, seeing Mercedes’ progress. The W15 has come alive ever since its upgrades worked well in Montreal and seems to be improving to be in the fight for podiums alongside McLaren and Ferrari. So, it would be interesting to see Russell’s performance in the upcoming two races of this triple header.
