Mercedes leave Hamilton stunned: 'Didn't expect this to happen'
F1 News
It has been a roller-coaster of a season for Mercedes so far. The start of the season forecasted an ugly 2024 for the German team, looking to be way off the pace of Red Bull and McLaren. However, fast-forward to the summer break, Mercedes are in the best form possible, taking three wins in the last four races and earning six straight podium finishes. And after winning at the Belgian Grand Prix before the three-week break, Lewis Hamilton wants to get back on track, knowing that his team will be challenging for more victories.
Hamilton 'did not expect' Mercedes to be back at the front
Since the regulation change came to F1 for 2022, Mercedes were the biggest team to lose out. Their 'sidepodless' car did not work, and they were forced to start again to try and combat the 'porpoising' that occurred. A year later, they went without a race win in a season for the first time since 2011. However, since the Canadian Grand Prix, their turnaround has been very impressive.
Updates brought to the W15 meant there was a vast improvement in Montreal, leading to George Russell taking pole position and earning Mercedes' first podium after finishing P3. Hamilton finished in P4, but a race later at the Spanish Grand Prix, he earned his first podium of the season. Wins at the British and Belgian Grands Prix for the seven-time world champion meant that the German team go into the summer break on superb form.
Speaking in the press conference after the race in Spa, Hamilton spoke highly about the improvements he has seen from his car: "We didn't expect to be competing with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this point of the season with how we started off. So for us to now have closed up, it's going to be one hell of a second half of the season, for sure."
The excitement for the season half of the season is palpable from the 39-year-old, but it will come with its challenges on the grid, of course, as Hamilton also acknowledged how competitive the 2024 season has been with seven different Grand Prix winners: "It is great. I think it is really fantastic for the sport to be having such close teams and drivers. The pedigree drivers at the top today are really elite."