Lewis Hamilton and George Russell say the Mercedes AMG F1 team in Spain has taken a decisive step forward ahead of the race, and allude to the fact that they’re back near the front of the Formula 1 grid.

Lewis Hamilton says the Mercedes team in Spain has taken a decisive step forward ahead of the race – but the record world champion is still struggling with his own performance. “I’m still behind,” the 37-year-old said after qualifying for the Barcelona Formula One Grand Prix.

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Hamilton had finished sixth on the F1 grid, with his new teammate George Russell fourth, “which means the car belongs there at least,” Hamilton noted, “I’m still struggling with the rear, I don’t know how to get that sorted yet.”

Overall, however, the world championship winning team moved closer to the top spot previously shared by only Ferrari and Red Bull. The upgrades, used for the first time in Spain, were particularly helpful with regard to porpoising, or bouncing at high speed, Hamilton said.

“We don’t have it on the straights anymore, just in some corners, so that’s a big step forward,” Hamilton said: “We’ve made that step now that we hadn’t made in the last five races.”

Russell, promoted to the Silver Arrows from Williams for the new season, thus believes better times are now ahead for Mercedes. “We’re not fast enough yet to compete with the top,” said the 24-year-old: “But we’ve now found our base to build on. We are excited to see what the next races bring. We can still find a lot of speed.”