Lewis Hamilton reckons it will be tough for Mercedes to compete with Aston Martin and Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix amid expectations the pair will bring upgrades this weekend.
After conceding that its car philosophy with the retention of last year’s zero sidepod concept had hit a development ceiling, Mercedes introduced wholesale changes to its capricious W14 in Monaco.
Although Hamilton and team-mate George Russell were cautious in delivering a verdict on the performance of the new parts on an unconventional circuit, both drivers expressed satisfaction with the early promise the revised 2023 car showed.
But with Aston Martin and Ferrari set to respond with significant upgrade packages of their own, Hamilton is wary of how Mercedes will stack up against its nearest rivals in Barcelona.
“I really don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I know someone said those two have upgrades this weekend, so we’ll find out tomorrow how good those upgrades are.
“Just from looking at the numbers of what this [Mercedes] upgrade is, before they had their upgrades maybe it would put us right close with them, but we’ll see whether they take a big step or a small step forwards this weekend.
“But I’m still hopeful that we can compete with them this weekend but it’s a big hope.”
While Mercedes extended its point lead over Ferrari and reduced the margin to Aston Martin in second to only a single point, Red Bull continued its flawless start to the campaign with another victory in Monaco.
The reigning World Champions have won all six races to be held in 2023, upholding a winning margin of over 20s in every race to end under green flag conditions.
Hamilton acknowledges that Mercedes’ improved car will not provide the step needed to interrupt the current dominance Red Bull is enjoying, but the seven-time World Champion is confident that it will put the German outfit back on the right track.
“It’s not the step forward that we’re hoping for,” he added. “The true step forward we’re hoping for is… there’s been around a second delta in race trim for example.
“We haven’t covered that with this step, but it is a step in the right direction and what I felt last weekend was a little bit more confident in the car, more ability to commit to the corners, so I’m hoping that at this track it’s the same but hopefully better because there’s a lot of medium and high-speed corners.
“But there’s a huge amount of work that has gone into this and we’re hoping that it puts us on the right track, so literally changing train tracks, putting us on the track that can lead us to that second.”
Hamilton arrives at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the joint-record win holder at the venue, having been victorious on Spanish soil in six of F1’s previous nine visits.
The 38-year-old embarked on an incredible recovery drive in last year’s race to come home fifth on the road, after picking up a puncture following an opening lap tangle with Kevin Magnussen.
