Mercedes optimistic after progress shown in Spain

Mercedes came out of Formula One’s Spanish Grand Prix with increased confidence after showing significant progress and finishing ahead of Aston Martin and Ferrari.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen put on another dominant performance to win Sunday’s race from pole position, but Mercedes took a big step forward with Lewis Hamilton finishing second and teammate George Russell third to give the team its first double podium finish of the season.

Mercedes acknowledged that the gap to Red Bull remained significant, but there was optimism after the team’s much-anticipated upgrade package showed it has the potential to keep the team ahead of Aston Martin and Ferrari.

The upgrades couldn’t be introduced at Imola after the race was canceled because of floods in Italy. The changes made it to the cars in Monaco but the street circuit was not ideal to give a real sense of their potential.

“This result is definitely what we were working towards,” Hamilton said. “This is amazing and it’s down to all the great, great work that is going on with the people back at the factory, keeping their heads down. I hope everyone is feeling really proud back at the factory.”

With Hamilton’s second podium finish of the season, and Russell’s first, Mercedes overtook Aston Martin for second place in the constructors’ championship, while Ferrari stayed fourth.

“George did a really good job, so we delivered good points on a whole,” Hamilton said. “We’ve just got to try to keep this up. For us to be quicker than the Ferraris and the Astons was really mega.”

Hamilton was second after starting fifth on the grid at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit. Russell moved up from 12th to make it to the podium.

“This result highlights all the hard work and efforts that have gone on at the factory to bring these upgrades,” said Russell, who is fifth in the drivers’ standings, just behind Hamilton.