Hamilton proud of Mercedes progress despite gap to Red Bull

Mercedes rolled out a radical upgrade featuring a revamped sidepod design at the Monaco Grand Prix, and have been continuing to bring several updates to their W14 car across the following races.

Hamilton has claimed a pole position and three podium finishes since the Monaco upgrade and insists Mercedes have “progressed a lot” this year, even if the gap to Red Bull has remained large. 

"I've been incredibly proud of everybody. Everyone has been working insanely hard,” the seven-time world champion said. 

"We've been making big steps. I think the biggest step we took was when we got to Monaco and the car has really progressed a lot since then.

"We have a better understanding of where to position the car. It's been a lot more consistent - podiums, top-five finishes - which has been great.

”And, generally, we've been getting solid, great reliability. So, there's lots and lots of good bits.”

While Red Bull have won all 12 races in 2023, the battle for second place in the constructors’ championship has been intense, with the likes of Aston Martin, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren all taking turns in being the second-fastest team at various stages.

Hamilton anticipates the battle to remain tight heading into the second half of the season, which resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of this month.

"I don't know how much developing people will be doing in the second part of the season, but I think there will be movement," the Briton added. 

"I don't know what happened to Aston and how they've taken a step back. But I'm sure McLaren was really strong in the second phase.

"Ferrari were very close so dependent on track, I'm sure there'll be some movement in the positions. I hope that we can be a little better."