Mercedes chief admits Lewis Hamilton was 'very lucky' to grab Spanish Grand Prix podium

Lewis Hamilton after finishing P2 in Spain — Photo: © LAT Images

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Mercedes chief admits Hamilton was 'very lucky' to grab Spanish GP podium

Lewis Hamilton lead the Mercedes charge last weekend, fighting from P4 on the grid to secure a P2 finish for the team

Harry Smith

Saturday 10 June 2023 06:57

Lewis Hamilton was lucky to step onto the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend, according to Mercedes' trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin.

The 38-year-old turned in a monstrous performance to claim his second P2 finish of the season, showing impressive pace compared to the rest of his frontrunning rivals, Verstappen excluded.

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Hamilton's afternoon in Barcelona ended with silverware, but it could have ended in disaster following lap-one contact with Lando Norris.

The seven-time champion got the jump on Norris, who started the race P3 on the grid, but the two came together at turn two with Norris suffering front wing damage and Hamilton lucky to escape without a puncture.

Lucking out in Barcelona

Speaking in Mercedes' post-race debrief on YouTube, Shovlin explained: ”We were very, very lucky because the only thing that got damaged was actually the wheel shield.

"And that's a bit that's there for regulatory purposes not actually there for car performance.

”So there wasn't a big knock on and when we made the pit stop you can then put a fresh wheel on with a fresh wheel shield and everything's back to normal."

Hamilton made contact with both George Russell and Lando Norris last weekend

"So very lucky for Lewis and once we were able to confirm that everything was okay on the data or the aero load looked ok and there was no concerning overloads on the suspension he was able to get his head down and attack the race.”

Hamilton lost momentum due to the contact allowing Lance Stroll to snatch P3, but the legendary Brit fought back before taking P2 from Carlos Sainz and disappearing down the road.