Mick Schumacher gets a special mention from Lewis Hamilton after the latter secures P2 finish at 2023 F1 Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton has praised Mick Schumacher for his simulator work that contributed to the success of the current upgrades on the Mercedes W14.

The Briton credited his second-place finish at the 2023 F1 Spanish GP to the collective team effort that went into developing the car. Speaking at the post-race press conference, Hamilton said:

“The car felt great today. Friday was a real struggle with the balance, it was way out of the window. It was very hard to drive, very unpredictable. And then we did some great work overnight.

“We’ve got a great team, with Mick back in the simulator on Friday night and he did some great work, which helped us get on the right track on Saturday. I think we did pretty decent work in trying to understand the different downforce levels. And in the race today the car felt great.”

Lewis Hamilton added that while he couldn't keep up with Spanish GP winner Max Verstappen, he was happy with his team's uptick in performance over the weekend.

“But honestly I just couldn't match the times that Max was doing. And for George to come from 12th to third is just remarkable. So, really awesome result for us as a team,” he concluded.

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Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton want to battle each other again

Lewis Hamilton expressed his desire to race Max Verstappen again after the 2023 Spanish GP.

The Dutchman responded by saying it would be great to have Hamilton and more drivers in the mix. Verstappen believes it would be better if there were more drivers in the mix as this season progressed as well as in next year's title fight.

When aked about his thirst to yearn for more success, Hamilton felt he still had the hunger to fight for more and was focused on getting results while improving himself.

“I think my hunger has never really shifted, I would say. No, don't feel like that's… I think I'm in a really great place in my life and I think I'm really happy where I am in my life and I think I've got all the ducks in a row, like where I'm able to really focus,” Lewis Hamilton said.

“Got a great, great, great team around me both off track and on track. There's great stuff that's happening with Mission 44 that's got a great team in London, working on that. And we're starting to see impact.”

Hamilton went on to praise Mercedes' engineers before indicating that he wants to be in Max Verstappen's current position as the leader:

“I've got a great team of engineers here that… been with Bono [Peter Bonnington] for a long, long time and feel like Bono’s really doing… what Bono and Mike and all the guys are doing is such a such a fantastic job,” he said.

“And I think for me, I feel fit and healthy and I think that was a very solid, very solid race for me. And I think, yeah, I want to keep going for as long as I can. But I want to be where he is [indicating Max]. And or racing him at least.

“So that's super, super-focused on getting to that point and yeah, a long way to go. But there’s time.”

Asked if he would desire racing Lewis Hamilton again, the Red Bull driver said:

“Yeah, I think it's great for the sport in general, right, if you have more teams fighting upfront.

“That's, I think, what they want to achieve so, honestly, that would be amazing, to have more drivers really up there, and hopefully throughout the year it will already get closer and maybe next year there are more teams really up there.”

The 2021 title contenders have not battled in a race in the last 18 months apart from the 2022 Brazilian GP where they collided with each other. Still in the hunt for his eighth title, Lewis Hamilton also dropped a subtle hint after the Spanish GP that he could continue with Mercedes.

His comments put at least a temporary end to the transfer rumours about him moving to Ferrari.