Lewis Hamilton felt his poor start at the Spanish Grand Prix cost Mercedes the chance to get even closer to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Barcelona.
As the lights went out, Hamilton dropped to fourth from third as teammate George Russell took the lead after pole-sitters Lando Norris and Max Verstappen held each other back on the 594-meter run to Turn 1.
Verstappen quickly cleared Russell for a straight victory as Hamilton followed Norris home for his 198th career podium, and his first since the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix some 13 races ago.
However, reflecting on the result, Hamilton felt it could have been closer than the 17.790 seconds he finished behind Verstappen’s Red Bull.
“It’s been a good day, a good weekend,” Hamilton explained.
“I have to thank the team because they have been working very hard on the pit stops, with the strategy and the pit stops were really right.
“Unfortunately, like Lando, I had a bad start and obviously lost ground to the Ferraris, so it was a bit of a battle to get back to where I am now.
“With a better start, I don’t know if we would have been able to hold on to the guys in front, but I don’t think we would have been as far behind as we were.”
Hamilton eventually overtook Russell for the final podium spot after the young Briton changed hard tires on his final pit stop.
The C1 hard rubber was not a favored race tyre, with limited life in practice, and Hamilton explained that it was never an option for him as he also tackled a close wheel-to-wheel battle with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at Turn 1 .
“It was the plan from the beginning, it was never an option to use the hard tire,” he said.
“I drove the race on a soft-medium-soft.
“All the overtakes were very close, but that’s how it should be, right? It was fair, I left space and I was right on the edge, with a role between us.”
