Hamilton issues positive Mercedes verdict over F1 progress

Lewis Hamilton believes that Mercedes have improved from Friday’s sessions and will able to compete with the leaders in both Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s grand prix.

Mercedes have spent the last few rounds in touching distance of those at the front, but have been unable to maximise their performances. Following their disastrous race in Qatar, where Hamilton collided with his team-mate George Russell, the seven-time champion has fought back in style in Austin.

In Friday’s qualifying, Hamilton achieved a solid third place ahead of both McLarens. Fast forward to 24 hours later and the Silver Arrows star has repeated this result by qualifying third again in the sprint shootout.

This time around, Hamilton only missed out on pole by seven hundredths of a second to Max Verstappen.

Mercedes in the fight for races

READ MORE: 'Special measures' for Wolff as Mercedes F1 boss makes return in Austin

Speaking after the shootout, the 38-year-old was honest about their chances but was impressed by how close the margin was to Verstappen and his RB19.

“I think it was a little closer than yesterday, so definitely an improvement. We had a tough session, particularly on the mediums," he told Sky Sports.

“For us to be this close in Austin, just shows that we are progressing as a team and we can really take that as a real positive and I think we’re in a good position in both races to apply some pressure to the leaders. It’s all very close, so we’ll wait and see. I’m hoping I can hold on to it.”

For the sprint, Mercedes will start third and eleventh after Russell was handed a three-place grid-drop for impeding the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc early on in the shootout.

Then for Sunday, Mercedes will start third and fifth as they aim to outperform both McLaren and Ferrari in their battle for second in the constructors’ championship.

READ MORE: Verstappen PROMISES 'very important' Red Bull team-mate will stay

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