What the teams said – Race day at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix

Mercedes

Contrasting starts at Mercedes, with Russell getting such a good launch he was able to take the lead, while Hamilton went backwards. That left Russell as the lead car once Verstappen had made his way past, and the team therefore pitted him first. Hamilton lost out on the undercut to Sainz and had to fight hard to get back past the Ferrari man, with the team then splitting strategies in the final stint – putting Russell on hards and Hamilton on softs. In the end, it worked out for Hamilton, who had better tyres to catch and overtake his team mate for the final podium place.

READ MORE: Hamilton hails ‘the best weekend I’ve had all year’ after Barcelona podium as he defends Sainz lunge

Lewis Hamilton, 3rd

“It’s been a really great weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the podium so I’m very happy! We’re not quite there yet but we’ve taken a huge step in recent races. We didn’t quite have the pace to fight with the two guys ahead of us but, if we can deliver more consistently like this, then we will be in a strong position. We are on our way to catching those guys and that is fantastic.

“I had a really bad start, which was unfortunate. The race may have been slightly different if I had got off the line better, but ultimately, I think P3 was the maximum today. I was pleased with my move on Sainz too. I gave him enough room and we both made it through the corner. It was an important move for my race, so I was glad to get it done. It’s now on to Austria and we’re looking forward to it.”

George Russell, 4th

“There were a few things that went against us today, unfortunately. We had a slow first pit stop, and then the Hard tyre didn’t feel great in the final stint. Nevertheless, as a team our aim was to maximise what we could achieve today, and we did that with P3 and P4. Lewis drove a great race today and we take away the huge positives from what have been a very promising last couple of races.

“I was dreaming of making a move like I did into turn one last night. I didn’t think it would quite come to fruition in the way that it did! I remember Fernando (Alonso) making a similar start in 2013. We had a headwind so I knew I could brake quite late. It was a very satisfying move and felt good to lead a race again. Unfortunately, Max (Verstappen) was too fast for us today, as was Lando. But two podiums in two races is very encouraging as we head to Austria.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“We can take a lot of positives away from today. We have taken several steps forward in the previous few races and it is good to see these confirmed here in Spain. We are not quite there yet, and we have to more to do to catch those ahead. Nevertheless, we are on a positive development trajectory, and it feels good to be back in the game.

“It was also fantastic to pull off two of the best overtakes I’ve seen in a long time. George made a mega start and braked late to take the lead. Lewis’s overtake on Sainz meanwhile was great racing and an important moment for his race. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to enjoy a Grand Prix podium with Lewis, so it was fantastic to see him up there. We’re now looking forward to the next two races in the triple-header and building on the momentum we are establishing.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“It’s been a solid weekend from the drivers and the whole team. We felt like we could have been closer to pole than we were yesterday, but ultimately, we didn’t have enough pace to challenge Max (Verstappen) and Lando (Norris) today. Nevertheless, it was good to get on the podium with Lewis. With George just behind in fourth, that completed a decent points haul for us.

“George had a great start and made a very impressive move on the brakes around the outside iunto turn one. Lewis’s start wasn’t quite as good, but he did a good job to recover around turns one and two to get back to fourth. It was evident fairly on that we were having to push pretty hard to not fall back from Verstappen and that meant we had to make our pit stops a little earlier than planned. By the time we got into the second stint, our focus was on ensuring we beat the Ferraris. Lewis was able to do that comfortably in the end and managed his tyres well in the final stint to do the same. We’re encouraged by the fact the car has worked well at Montreal and here in Barcelona. We need to find more speed to get right to the front but we are working hard on that and should be able to continue to close that gap with further developments to come.”