Lewis Hamilton believes that Aston Martin has taken a notable step forward at the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
Aston Martin arrived at the race event with a number of new parts including a modified engine cover as well as an upgraded floor.
Earlier this month at the Spanish Grand Prix, Aston Martin endured a difficult round compared to the podium-finishing form it displayed at the opening races of the 2023 campaign.
However, Alonso had strong pace during the race in Montreal and returned to the podium in second place, having been forced to re-overtake Hamilton after losing out at the start.
“It’s honestly been a great weekend for us,” said Hamilton, who crossed the line in third. “I think we’re slowly chipping away.
“I think the Astons took a little bit of a step ahead this weekend when they added the upgrades, but we’re working on bringing some more moving forwards.
“Quite an honour to be up there with two world champions. I was really excited to be third and just trying to be in that mix. But unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace today.”
Hamilton was upbeat about Mercedes’ prospects for the remainder of the season, insisting that it will catch the front-runners at some stage.
“We knew that this weekend, this wouldn’t be our strongest circuit as we struggle in the lower speed corners particularly,” he said.
“That’s really where I was losing to Fernando and to Max, just on traction out of turn two, out of pretty much every corner.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, just add rear downforce to the car and a little bit more efficiency, but we’re chipping away as I said.
“And I do believe we will get there at some stage, but Max was a little bit gone. But I think our pace is a little bit closer today, so we’re going in the right direction.”
