Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have praised Mick Schumacher for his effort to improve Mercedes’ form at the Spanish Grand Prix.
After Friday practice last weekend, Mercedes was cautious over its pace, with Hamilton stating that it would be a struggle to progress into Q3 during qualifying.
Schumacher, who is working as Mercedes’ reserve driver for the 2023 season, was at the Brackley factory on Friday conducting set-up work.
After a mixed qualifying that saw Russell drop out in Q2 and Hamilton finish P5, Mercedes enjoyed a strong grand prix as both Hamilton and Russell finished on the podium.
“Friday was a real struggle with the balance, it was way out of the window,” Hamilton reflected. “It was very hard to drive, very unpredictable.
“And then we did some great work overnight. We’ve got a great team, with Mick back in the simulator on Friday night and he did some great work, which helped us get on the right track on Saturday.
“I think we did pretty decent work in trying to understand the different downforce levels. And in the race today the car felt great.
“But honestly I just couldn’t match the times that Max [Verstappen] was doing. And for George to come from 12th to third is just remarkable. So, really awesome result for us as a team.”
Russell, too, commended the work carried out by Schumacher as Mercedes scored just its second double podium in the last 16 races.
“It probably felt the best it’s ever felt around Barcelona because of the cooler conditions,” he said.
“But definitely this season, probably the best it’s felt, the most together it’s felt and as Lewis said, the team’s done a really, really great job.
“The work that Mick and the simulator team are doing overnight, they were there well past midnight to help us with the setup and get it in a good window for the race today.
“So we are making strides in the right direction. We just need to make sure, especially into next year, that we hit the ground running because I think we as a team probably develop faster than anybody else.”
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