Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes finds itself in an unexpected second position in the F1 constructors’ championship following its poor start to the season.

A second place in Australia from George Russell was Mercedes’ only saving grace from the first six races after opting to persist with its development path from last year before recognising after the opening qualifying session in Bahrain it was an unwise choice.

A different design approach and upgrades were eventually unveiled, allowing Mercedes to score a two-three in the Spanish GP, spearheaded by Hamilton, before the seven-time F1 champion added additional third places in Canada and Britain.

A first pole position of the season at the last race in Hungary, and Hamilton’s first since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP, failed to translate into a hoped-for victory as the 38-year-old trailed home fourth.

But the upturn in results, even if other performances have left a lot to be desired, has propelled Mercedes into second in the standings, 22 points clear of nearest rivals Aston Martin.

Although Hamilton insists initial expectations coming into the year were to be “fighting for a world championship”, the targets have naturally shifted given the early-season circumstances.

“It (the expectation) was just to be in a much better position than we were last year and I think that wasn’t the case,” assessed Hamilton.

“With all the amazing work that goes on through winter, we kind of started further behind and so it’s been a big, steep, uphill climb, but really proud of the team.

“We’re fighting for second in the constructors’ championship, which is definitely something we didn’t expect after what we felt at the first test, and that’s really down to the great teamwork that’s happening in the background.

“My full focus now is on trying to secure second for the team. For everyone back in the factory, it means a huge amount for them, and whilst we can’t currently catch the Red Bulls, that puts us in a good position for next year.”

Although Hamilton fell three places in Hungary, with the damage done by a poor start through the first two corners, he maintains the fact he delivered a rare pole position has at least left the team “optimistic”.

“It was amazing to have that experience on Saturday,” said Hamilton. “It shows there’s potential in the car and everyone’s working incredibly hard to bring performance.

“Our race pace was very good, we just have to work on what was…we’ve understood what the issue was at the beginning and we’ve got some upgrades here this weekend.”

Hamilton is now hoping to see the kind of step recently made by McLaren as Mercedes continues its search for its silver bullet.

“As a driver, you’re constantly battling the inconsistencies with balance but we are flat out trying to improve,” said Hamilton.

“We’re working a lot to analyse where we are and what we can do to try and make those big steps that some of the others have, and I have all the faith in the world that we will eventually get there, too.

“We didn’t start where we wanted to be at the beginning of the year,  but we have made a lot of progress. It’s been a huge amount of progress over the season so far, and I’m hoping that there’ll be a lot more in the second phase.”

Whether that translates into a hoped-for win, however, Hamilton is sceptical.

“I’m not quite sure we can currently compete with Red Bull on race pace,” remarked Hamilton.

“There were times in the last race Max (Verstappen) was around eight-tenths (of a second) faster than everyone on a single lap – but never say never.”