Mercedes continues to be a step behind Pink Bull however Lewis Hamilton has praised his group for the progress made since beginning the season on the again foot.
Mercedes ditched its radical zero-sidepod idea after the primary qualifying session of the yr, on the Bahrain Grand Prix, and rolled out a brand new improve on the Monaco Grand Prix in Could.
Hamilton had one podium end earlier than the improve however has had three, together with three fourth place finishes, since.
Requested how he rated the primary half of Mercedes’ season, the seven-time world champion stated: “I have been extremely pleased with everyone. Everybody has been working insanely laborious.
“We have been making huge steps. I feel the largest step we took was once we acquired to Monaco and the automotive has actually progressed so much since then.
“Now we have a greater understanding of the place to place the automotive. It has been much more constant — podiums, top-five finishes — which has been nice.
“And, typically, we have been getting stable, nice reliability. So, there’s tons and many good bits.”
Pink Bull is at the moment unbeaten, with 12 grand prix wins and three wins within the dash races within the first half of the yr.
The reigning champions have already began to concentrate on growing the 2024 automotive.
Mercedes’ battle is with the groups within the cluster behind Pink Bull, with McLaren lately changing Aston Martin as the primary rival for podiums, whereas Ferrari stays within the combine.
Hamilton thinks the lead group of that chasing pack will proceed to alter within the second half of the yr, which resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 27.
“I do not understand how a lot growing individuals will probably be doing within the second a part of the season, however I feel there will probably be motion,” Hamilton stated.
“I do not know what occurred to Aston and the way they’ve taken a step again. However I am certain McLaren was actually robust within the second part.
“Ferrari have been very shut so depending on observe, I am certain there will be some motion within the positions. I hope that we is usually a little higher.”