Hamilton eager to see how Mercedes revs up

Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate George Russell were optimistic on Thursday that their heavily-upgraded car will produce improved performance and results at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
But both conceded that the runaway dominance of Red Bull and the similar improvements to be introduced by rivals Ferrari and Aston Martin, among others, made it difficult to evaluate their progress.
“Monaco was not a good place to introduce new parts, but this is the perfect test track with a lot of high-speed corners so I am sure we can learn more about where we stand here,” said seven-time champion Hamilton.
“Of course, the others have upgrades here too, but from our race here last year, I am intrigued to see what happens because we did well and had a relatively good weekend. It’s going to be very interesting to see.”
Mercedes introduced a change of philosophy with the sidepods of their W14 car in Monte Carlo along with new suspension arrangements, a revised floor and rear wing and rear brakes in a wide-ranging package. Those changes are expected to be followed by more upgrades this weekend as the team seek to overhaul Aston Martin and Ferrari in pursuit of Red Bull.
“We are not going to judge anything just on this weekend,” said Russell.
“Last year, we had a really competitive weekend in Barcelona. I was on the podium and Lewis was strong in the race after a puncture.
“We came away thinking all our problems were solved and then went to the following couple of races and learned that wasn’t the case at all!
“I’m sure we will have a slightly more competitive weekend here, but that won’t mean we are definitely back.”
Verstappen says Red Bull need luck to win every race
Max Verstappen yesterday returned to the scene of his maiden Formula One victory and sought to play down talk of Red Bull becoming the first team to win every race in a season.
The Dutchman claimed his first win as a teenager on his Red Bull debut in the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, after the two championship-leading Mercedes drivers Nico Hamilton and Lewis Hamilton collided on the opening lap.
The defending double world champion leads this year’s title race by 39 points from teammate Segio Perez, with Red Bull dominating. Verstappen has won four of six races so far, with Perez winning the other two.
Their imperious consistency has raised the prospect of a unique sweep, despite Perez’s lapse in Monaco last weekend when he crashed in qualifying, started from the back of the grid and failed to score a point.
Speaking to reporters at a pre-race news conference at the Circuit de Catalunya, Verstappen was asked about that race, his teammate’s mishap and its impact on the title battle.
“I think it’s mainly just the team, of course, as they want to score more points, but that’s Monaco – it can bite you,” he said.
“I’ve been in that position myself, but now, from my point of view, it doesn’t really change anything.
“I know it’s a very long championship and you need to be very consistent.
“You can barely afford mistakes, especially when it’s one team, one opponent, really.
“And at the moment, it looks like ‘best case you win’ and ‘worst case you’re second’ so you can’t really lose too many points like that.
He said he plans to “keep grinding every single weekend.”
“It doesn’t really change anything for me. It’s not like I came out of Monaco relieved, or whatever.
“I’m planning to gain seven points every single weekend.”