In what can only be described as a remarkable turnaround, Lewis Hamilton clinched a P5 finish in today’s Grand Prix—an impressive result that comes as a pleasant surprise given the challenges Mercedes faced throughout the weekend. After a rocky start in practice, where the team struggled to find pace and balance, Hamilton’s top-five result is a testament to his skill, experience, and the team’s ability to adapt under pressure.
Practice Struggles Raise Concerns
The weekend didn’t begin on a promising note for Hamilton. In Free Practice 1 and 2, he was consistently outside the top 10, battling a car that looked unpredictable and uncompetitive. Mercedes grappled with a narrow operating window, and Hamilton’s feedback was filled with frustration as he struggled to get the W15 dialed in.
FP3 offered slight improvements but still lacked the pace needed to contend with the front-runners. The general sentiment from both Hamilton and the Mercedes garage was cautious at best. With Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari all showing strong one-lap and long-run pace, even a top-10 qualifying seemed optimistic.
A Qualifying Rebound
Despite a shaky build-up, qualifying brought a spark of hope. Hamilton managed to extract everything from the car in Q3, putting in a lap that placed him squarely in contention. Though still off the ultimate pace set by Max Verstappen and the lead McLarens, P7 on the grid was a considerable improvement—and crucially, it set him up for a strategic play on Sunday.
Mercedes’ upgrades, which had failed to impress during practice, began to show signs of promise under the pressure of qualifying. It became clear that the car was more stable in cooler conditions and under lower fuel, a factor that would play into Sunday’s strategy.
Race Day Brilliance
Come race day, Hamilton’s trademark racecraft came alive. He made a clean getaway off the line, holding position and gradually building momentum. While others faltered around him—either from over-aggressive strategies or tire degradation—Hamilton kept it steady, managing his tires with the precision that’s become his hallmark.
Mercedes executed a near-perfect one-stop strategy, timing his pit stop to avoid traffic and maximize tire performance in the key middle phase of the race. Hamilton’s consistency allowed him to undercut or overcut several midfield rivals, eventually slotting into P5.
What stood out wasn’t just his ability to gain places, but how he kept pace with faster cars ahead—most notably keeping the pressure on Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, and keeping the charging Aston Martins behind him.
A Quietly Encouraging Sign for Mercedes
While P5 is not where a seven-time World Champion ideally wants to be, context matters. This result, given the state of play after practice, is an overachievement. More importantly, it signals that Mercedes may be inching closer to solving their car’s fundamental issues. There’s clearly work to do, especially on single-lap performance and overall balance, but Hamilton’s race pace and composure show the team is moving in the right direction.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton was candid but optimistic:
> “We didn’t expect to be in the top five this weekend. The car’s been tough to drive, but the team pulled it together, and we found something that worked. Still a long way to go, but it’s a step forward.”
Eyes Ahead
With several key races coming up and development still ongoing, Mercedes will look to use this result as a launchpad. Hamilton’s P5 finish serves not just as a reminder of his enduring brilliance, but also as a morale boost for a team in transition. If they can build on this momentum, a return to the podium might not be far away.
For now, though, it’s a well-earned result—and far better than anyone would’ve predicted on Friday.
Lewis Hamilton, P5—sometimes, that’s no
t just a good result. It’s a statement.