Can Lewis Hamilton challenge Max Verstappen for wins on any track this season? The Mercedes driver reveals the possibilities for the rest of the year

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has stated that despite a significant step up in performance, they are still way behind Red Bull and Max Verstappen in 2023.

Hamilton finished the Spanish GP in P2 to bring home important points and prove that the new upgrades have certainly worked for Mercedes. However, despite the positive result, he was still 24 seconds behind reigning two-time world champion Verstappen.

During the post-race press conference, Lewis Hamilton said about challenging Red Bull for race wins:

"With the current car that we have, I don't think we'll be matching their performance but we're working on improving the car. So, with the current package we're limited to the pace that we had today, but I think there's a huge amount of work and studying and improvement that we hopefully will have coming in the future."

"Naturally, they should also be progressing through the year, so we need to be taking big chunks out of them with every step we take. I think today they were a good few tenths ahead of us. Maybe half a second ahead of us per lap - and on a single lap, that's a little bit bigger - but I think we're going in the right direction and I know we have something in the pipeline moving forward, so I'm hoping that at least by the end of the year, maybe we can challenge them."

Lewis Hamilton also spoke about getting the balance right and challenging Red Bull next season "from day one," saying:

"I'm more focused on making sure next year we have the car to challenge them from day one. And the further we continue to push this car this year, the more that impacts next year also, in some ways. But the more we learn about this car also, that also sets us in the right direction. It's trying to find the right balance. They're so far ahead and ultimately Max will continue to win this year - but that means they can start on their development for next year sooner, earlier than anyone else if they haven't already - and that's the danger. So, we've just got to keep working hard but also try to get the right balance."

"We just have to focus on ourselves" - Max Verstappen on Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes' resurgence

Max Verstappen gave his take on Mercedes' improvement on the track, saying:

"I think they had a very strong race, to be honest. I think they are improving but from our side, it's not about being worried. We just have to focus on ourselves, trying to keep on improving the car. At the moment it all looks great but you can't' stand still in this world."

It will be fascinating to see if Lewis Hamilton can build on the momentum and be more competitive in the coming races.