Lewis Hamilton has said that he feels as though he might now be able to win races this season in the Mercedes, such are the improvements that they have made to the car.

The Spanish Grand Prix could well be a real turning point in the year for the Silver Arrows, with them showing much greater pace across the weekend.

Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell benefitted with the former rising through the field after a first lap collision with Kevin Magnussen and the latter finishing on the podium in 3rd place.

Indeed, both drivers looked happy with their weekend's work in the end, and it is clear that Mercedes appear to have finally started solving the puzzle that is the W13.

Speaking post-race to the gathered press, including Give Me Sport, in Barcelona, Hamilton was asked whether he felt Grand Prix victories could now be in the offing this season thanks to the car's improvements:

"Yeah definitely. We have made a lot of improvements with the car, the race pace is much much better and the car is much nicer in the race.

"We just have some improvements to make for it in qualifying."

Hamilton's race pace was phenomenal after that first lap incident, and it was reminiscent of charges we have seen before from Lewis through the pack.

Of course, the deficit he has to Max Verstappen in the Drivers' championship this year is bigger than it ever was in 2021 and Red Bull, and Ferrari, look very strong so an 8th world title might be out of the question but, even so, after the start he has had to now feel like he can win races again this year still has to be a big positive.

The Monaco Grand Prix is up next this weekend, then, and Hamilton and Russell will be looking forward to seeing what they can do in their ever-improving car around the streets of Monte-Carlo.