"The smile on our face is because the car was strong" - Mercedes boss buoyed by Lewis Hamilton's pace at the 2023 F1 Mexican GP 

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was overjoyed by Lewis Hamilton finishing the 2023 F1 Mexican GP in P2, behind Max Verstappen.

The British driver started the race from P6 and eventually got into P4 after clearing Daniel Ricciardo in the first couple of laps. While Hamilton was unable to make any headways, he benefitted from the red-flag stoppage which helped him get a tire offset and move ahead of Charles Leclerc into second position after the restart.

Speaking with Sky Sports, the Mercedes team boss claimed that the smile on his face was a result of Lewis Hailton's strong race pace in the second phase. He said:

"The smile on our faces is because the car was strong. Once Lewis was in free air, we had so much margin in the medium. The lap times were good and the fastest lap at the end. It's been a few weekends now where we say we 'could have' but didn't. I think we need to qualify better."

"It was a brilliant, brilliant drive from Lewis. We have these oscillations in performance and we don't really know sometimes if the tyres stick. Just a few degrees of track temperature and you are out of the window."

Lewis Hamilton analyzes another podium finish in Mexico

The Brit secured a hat-trick of P2 finishes in Mexico after claiming yet another podium in 2023 on Sunday. The seven-time world champion stated that the car felt much nicer to drive in high fuel compared to its 'peaky' nature in low fuel on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton said:

"I think the car is just quite peaky in qualifying on light fuel but when you put a load of fuel in the car, it just feels nicer to drive and I think we struck a really nice set-up this weekend and particularly today for the race. Other than that, just really good tire management. I generally enjoyed it."

"It's not the most physical of races, being that you can't push all the way, you're saving, you're doing 200 or 300 meters of lifting and coasting to keep the car cool and stop it from failing. To have progressed so well through the early phase of the race and be challenging for a podium and then a second place is amazing. I am really happy with the race."

Lewis Hamilton is just 19 points behind Sergio Perez in the battle for P2 in the driver's championship with three races to go in the 2023 season.