Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton felt “grateful” to finish fifth after enduring a difficult 2022 Spanish Grand Prix
Hamilton enjoyed a solid weekend as he finished third in Friday Practice before he qualified sixth on the grid in a competitive Qualifying session.
The Brit then enjoyed a solid race start as he found himself briefly battling Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz for fifth until he conceded into Turn Four, only for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen to turn in on Hamilton and puncture his front left tyre which dropped him to second-last behind the Dane.
Hamilton consequently questioned on Lap Five whether it would be wise to retire and save the power unit due to damage on the car, only to be told that eighth was a possibility, which eventually materialised into a fifth-placed finish after cooling issues cost him fourth against Sainz.
Reflecting on his comeback drive, Hamilton admitted that he felt “grateful” that Mercedes didn’t let him throw in the towel, following his opening lap incident with Magnussen.
Hamilton proceeded to speak confidently of the Mercedes W13 car’s pace despite his “really unfortunate” first lap incident as he explained: “The car felt great in the race, our pace is closer to the top guys which is amazing.”
Scorching hot track temperatures however meant that tyre degradation was high with many opting for a three-stop tyre strategy, although the warm conditions also meant cooling issues.
Mercedes were no exception as both Hamilton and George Russell both encountered issues in the closing laps, which left Hamilton having “to basically drive at half throttle at the end to try and cool the car, with lots of lifting down the straight just to get fresh air into the engine to cool it down.”
Hamilton consequently lost fourth to Sainz which left him “gutted” but he was happy with the result nevertheless, having endured the “horrible feeling” of running at the back amidst reduced porpoising in the corners compared to recent races.
Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff meanwhile praised Hamilton for a strong “recovery drive” but admitted that if he hadn’t of had his first-lap incident, Hamilton could of fought for the win given his “stunning” pace in his final stint on used soft tyres.
Wolff though has urged caution over Mercedes’ improved form heading into Monaco where they haven’t enjoyed strong success in recent seasons as he explained: “The weekend was better than expected because I am always pessimistic about things.
“We’ve moved clear from the midfield, at least in Barcelona, and caught up half a second to the front runners – we were a second off and now it’s half a second.
“We unlocked the potential of the car by tweaking things on the stops and so today was the most valuable race for us to compare the two cars, across setups and tyres. Our understanding took a big step forward and there’s definitely more to come.”
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