Hamilton wants to take a page out of ex-teammate Russell's book off the line in Barcelona

The last time Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium at a Grand Prix was at last year's Las Vegas GP (with Ferrari he also won the Sprint at the Chinese GP and finished third at the Miami Sprint).

Starting from P5 on the grid, Hamilton wants to achieve that today. "My target is to try and get to the podium. I haven't been on the podium for a long time," he began to GPblog among others, referring to the same maximum Verstappen said he could achieve.

The previous year, his at the time teammate George Russell had a superb start to the Spanish GP and took the lead into Turn 1. "Long way down to Turn 1. You saw the start George got last year. So I will be trying my best to get a good start."

He then continued to explain the challenges he will have to deal with to achieve his goal. "Otherwise, after that it's just about managing the tyres, which is challenging. Every weekend I'm coming to the circuit for the first time with the team. The car is so much different to what I drove previous years."

"So through the weekend I'm having to adapt this new driving style which is horrible, it's not an enjoyable driving style, but I'm adapting it to these circuits each time I come. But I love that it's a first each weekend," the seven-time world champion concluded.

Hamilton has a great track record at the Barcelona circuit. After he crashed with Nico Rosberg in 2016, the Briton had a 100% record from 2017 until 2021 winning five in a row. He also won in 2014, and has to most victories on this track together with Michael Schumacher.