Lewis Hamilton credits Mercedes’ strategy after earning first podium of the season

The 2024 Spanish Grand Prix did not disappoint Lewis Hamilton as the seven-time world champion picked up his first podium of the season, thanks to Mercedes' "on point" strategy. The Brit started the race from P4 and improved one place to finish in P3.

Formula 1 was in Spain for the 10th race of the season where the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and George Russell qualified in P4, and P3, respectively, on Saturday (June 22). However, they could not break into the top two during the entire race and Max Verstappen and Lando Norris kept their dominance intact.

Despite that, Hamilton made sure he finished the race on the podium and claimed an all-important 15 points. Interestingly, the team strategy played a big part in it, and he did not forget to mention it in his post-race interview as he said:

"It has been a good day, a solid weekend. I have to say a big thank you to the team as they have been training so hard. The strategy and the pitstops were really on point."

Mercedes called Hamilton for a pitstop on Lap 17. A 2.3-second stop saw the Brit go out in P9 and lose a place to Sainz. However, a few laps later, he muscled past the Prancing Horse driver using the DRS and improved to P6.

Hamilton boxed again on Lap 44 from P3 to take a new set of soft tires. In doing so, he lost multiple positions but recovered as they went for their pit stops. In Lap 53, he overtook his teammate George Russell to take P3.

Lewis Hamilton had the chance to have a P2 finish

F1 Grand Prix of Spain: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W15. Courtesy: Getty

Lewis Hamilton had the chance to dethrone the top two drivers during the race. However, for that, he needed to have a perfect start, which he unfortunately did not. He lost places to his teammate Russell, and the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

"Unfortunately, I got a really bad start and lost ground to the Ferraris so it was a battle to get back," Hamilton said during the post-race interview. "With a better start... I don't know if we could have held on to the guys ahead but I don't think we would have been as far behind."

With the podium in Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton claimed the 198th podium of his F1 career, and the first one since the Mexico City Grand Prix in 2023. Thanks to this P3, he now has 70 points in ten races and is placed in P8 in the Drivers' Championship.

Hamilton's 12-year-long journey with Mercedes is almost complete with just 14 races to go. Amid this, a boost in performance, as well as a much-improved car would undoubtedly give the 103-time GP winner a much-needed impetus ahead of his Ferrari journey.