Lewis Hamilton took an upbeat view on his worst result of the 2023 Formula 1 season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Starting fifth, the seven-time world champion lost out under the Safety Car caused by Nyck De Vries, dropping to 10th after making an early pit stop.
However, Hamilton managed to recover quickly in the initial laps following the restart, climbing up to sixth, where he would finish just six-tenths behind the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
“Yeah, I think we did,” he told Sky Sports when asked if he had maximised the weekend.
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“I think there was great prep before coming here, a couple of days at the factory, plenty of sim running.
“So I don’t think there were any mistakes, there were any lessons. I don’t think this is failure, I think this is just the build to getting to where we need to be.
“So, everyone’s staying positive in the garage, everyone’s just doing their jobs to the best of their ability, and that’s all we can ask for right now until we get those upgrades, which will hopefully put us much more in the fight.”
Though Mercedes brought some new parts to Baku, a bigger overhaul of the W14 is set to be introduced at Imola later this month.
And Hamilton remains optimistic about the jump his team can make.
“I think we knew already from early on that we would have quite a few races until this upgrade, so it’s been just counting the days down or counting the weeks down,” he said.
“We don’t currently quite know exactly how good the upgrade will be, but we know it will be the start of something new for us.”
In the meantime, the battle continues to be second best behind Red Bull.
“Miami should be, I hope it’s better pace-wise,” Hamilton commented.
“Last year we were bouncing there a lot, so I think we’re in a much better place this year with our car. So hopefully we’re a little bit closer to the guys there.
“Might not be as close to the Red Bulls because they’re rapid, but maybe we can fight the Astons maybe, that would be amazing.”