Well, who's suddenly so aggressive? "I want to sit where he sits again," said Lewis Hamilton, pointing with his right index finger to the one who was sitting to his left, in the middle, in the winner's seat. This honour was once again reserved for Max Verstappen after the Spanish Grand Prix. The world champion smiled politely in the face of the record champion's declaration of war.

Sönke Sievers

Deputy Head of Department for Sport Online.

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Verstappen had won the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya too safely, the Dutchman leads the championship too superiorly for him to be frightened by the fact that Mercedes smells morning air. But above all, Lewis Hamilton has apparently rediscovered the self-image of a seven-time world champion and 103-time Grand Prix winner. In the end, he often seemed like a discouraged, introverted chaser.

No, Verstappen does not need to worry about his place in the middle. But the self-confidence is back with the silvers, Hamilton and stablemate George Russell raced to second and third place in Catalonia, were closer to Red Bull than they have been for a long time and conquered second place in the manufacturers' standings for the time being. Ferrari and Aston Martin, the direct competitors, were clearly beaten. An awakening experience for the former perennial winner? "That was the best car I've driven in the past year and a half," said a euphoric Lewis Hamilton.

Russell, who had raced forward from twelfth place after a botched qualifying session and a high-speed collision with Hamilton, agreed with him. Race director Toto Wolff also wanted to enjoy the moment and not pour water into the champagne, although he classified: "We are much closer to Red Bull, but still far from where we want to be."

The truth is that Mercedes are still three to four tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen. The Mercedes W14, known Toto Wolff, is still full of surprises. "At the moment," the Austrian further admitted, "it's a bit like 'Jugend forscht'." Nevertheless, they at Mercedes were collectively relieved to be at least "best of the rest" for the moment, the second force behind Red Bull. Hamilton hopefully recalled the bon mot that a race car that is fast in Barcelona is fast everywhere. "We will be strong in the next races," he greeted the competition.

Mercedes' engineers and designers have had a busy few weeks. In order to get up to speed, the face of the W14 was revamped, the front suspension was changed, and the almost sidepod-less aerodynamic concept was abandoned. "We made bold decisions," said Toto Wolff. It seems to be worth it.

Schumacher beats night around his ears

Initially, there was little to suggest a successful Barcelona weekend for the silvers. During the first practice sessions, the racer was almost impossible to tame: "Friday was a cramp, the car was difficult to drive, unpredictable," revealed chief driver Hamilton. The fact that it got better in qualifying the next day, he and Russell once again owed to Mick Schumacher. The reserve driver had spent the night at the headquarters in Brackley, England, doing virtual laps in the simulator until two o'clock in the morning and brooding over data with the engineers.

At seven o'clock in the morning he was standing on the mat in Barcelona, with fatigue on his face. Schumacher had recently put in such a night shift in Monaco. "Mick and the team did a valuable job in the simulator, which put us on the right track for the set-up," said Hamilton. Schumacher, who has been employed by Mercedes since this year, will now be allowed to drive the W14 in real life for the first time: This Wednesday he will take part in a tyre test on the Montmeló track.

Mercedes also benefited from the comparatively cool temperatures of around 23 degrees Celsius in Spain: "Not too fresh, not too warm, just perfect," said Toto Wolff, and immediately reminded us that things could be completely different as soon as the thermometer shows ten degrees more. He did not rule out further setbacks. But the direction, according to the message from Mercedes, is right.

Can the Silvers still compete with Max Verstappen over the course of the season? "I don't think so," Hamilton said. "We're improving and getting closer, but they're also improving." Then he made people sit up and take notice: "I'm focused on making sure we can challenge Red Bull from day one next year." That was a listener, after all, Hamilton's sporting situation is considered unexplained.

The 38-year-old's contract ends after this season, and the industry is eagerly speculating about what will happen next for him. Rumours are circulating about an immoral offer from Ferrari. "I haven't signed anything yet," Hamilton said now, and at the same time revealed that he had an important appointment with his boss: "On Monday I'll meet Toto, hopefully we'll get something done." Wolff made a similar statement: "All we have to do is sit down with a cup of coffee and it'll be done in half an hour."

Initially, nothing was known about the outcome of the meeting. In view of the recently hopeless sporting situation with Mercedes, there have recently been more and more voices that want the record world champion to end his career soon. For the time being, this seems to have moved into the distant future. It is likely to be a while before Hamilton can celebrate his 104th Grand Prix triumph and he will be allowed to sit in the middle again after the race. But his sheer driving pleasure, which is required to be successful, is unmistakably back.