Lewis Hamilton says he and Mercedes are “counting down the days” until the squad’s upgrade package is introduced at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Briton’s comments come after he finished sixth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, beating the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in the process.
Hamilton was unlucky in the race in Baku when a Safety Car was deployed right after his stop, sending him down to 10th. However, the seven-time champion recovered up to sixth, and was applying pressure to the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz towards the end.
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Asked by Sky F1 if he felt Mercedes had maximised the package it currently has this weekend, Hamilton replied: “I think we did. I think there was great prep before coming here – a couple of days at the factory – plenty of sim running – and I’m really proud of the team. Big thank you to everyone back at the factory.
“The mentality of the team is great. There’s such a winning mindset and everyone’s so focused on progressing and getting to where we know we can get to, it’s just taking some steps. So, I don’t think there are any mistakes, any lessons, I don’t think this is failure. I think this is just the build to getting where we need to be.
“So, everyone’s staying positive in the garage, everyone’s just doing their job to the best of their ability and that’s all we can ask for right now until we get those upgrades, which will hopefully put us much more in the fight.”
Team boss Toto Wolff had already said ahead of the Australian Grand Prix that no major improvements would be made to the W14 until the race in Imola in a few weeks’ time, and Hamilton is eager for the package – while also maintaining optimism over Mercedes’ prospects in Miami.
“I think we knew already from quite early on that we would have quite a few races until this upgrade,” he explained. “So, it’s just counting the days down or counting the weeks down. We don’t currently quite know exactly how good the upgrade will be – we know it will be the start of something new for us. But Miami should be… I hope it’s better pace-wise. Last year we were bouncing there a lot. We’re in a much better place this year with our car, so I hope we’re a lot closer to the guys there.
“We might not be as close to the Red Bulls because they’re rapid, but maybe we can fight the Astons because that would be amazing.”
Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell, meanwhile, finished seventh on track, setting the fastest lap with a late effort in the process.
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