“We’ll keep chasing them down” - Lewis Hamilton predicts when Mercedes can catch the Red Bull after a ‘mega’ P2 finish at Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton had a pretty good Spanish Grand Prix as he drove his Mercedes to P2 on the podium. This was required for the team to catch their competitors in the championship standings.

It was a pretty good race for the whole team as George Russell finished right behind him, making up for the rest of the podium. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, won the race after leading for all the laps.

Hamilton seems to be very confident about chasing Red Bull despite their extreme domination in the season. Mercedes seems to have improved quite a lot in contrast to their previous performance, and he feels that at this pace, they will be able to start winning again.

When asked by Nico Rosberg after the race, Hamilton mentioned the possibility of the Brackley-based outfit taking on the championship leaders.

"I just really wanted to take my hat off to my team, a big, big thank you to everyone, back to the factory for continuing to push and bring us a little bit closer to the Bulls.

"They're still a bit ahead of us, but we'll keep chasing them down. But this is an amazing result."

Lewis Hamilton started the race on P4 and made up places at the very start of the race. There was some contact between him and Lando Norris, who started the race a place above him.

After this, the latter had to pit because of the damage. Meanwhile, Hamilton kept his head up throughout the length of the race to finish on the podium. He also appreciated George Russell for finishing on P3.

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Lewis Hamilton gives estimated timeline for Mercedes catching up with Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton

It is quite apparent that Red Bull is way ahead of all the teams, let alone Mercedes, in terms of performance. Max Verstappen had almost no competition throughout the length of the race, and Sergio Perez, too, moved way ahead to finish just out of the podium places.

While Lewis Hamilton's statement about catching up with RBR would provoke fans, he also mentioned when it would be possible. Talking to Rosberg, the seven-time world champion stated that the W14 might get strong enough to catch up with Red Bull by the end of the season. But there is also the possibility that it might not happen and then they would have to focus on the 2024 season for the same.

"I think this is a bit too quick in the moment, but we're working at it. We working at it. So just one step at a time. And if I mean, we can get close by the end of the year. That would be awesome, but if not, next year"

Mercedes have now managed to move above Aston Martin in the standings to second position. They have 152 points in their bag after this successful result. Meanwhile, there would be enough work in the Aston Martin garage to remain competitive with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.