Hamilton sets podium target for Spanish GP after moving ‘in the right direction’ with P5 Qualifying result

Lewis Hamilton expressed mixed feelings after qualifying fifth for the Spanish Grand Prix, acknowledging it's "not where we wanted to be" but a definite "improvement from where we’ve been." Despite a challenging practice day riddled with issues, including a steering wheel problem and a significant loss of front-end aerodynamic performance, Hamilton successfully navigated to Q3, securing his best main qualifying result since the Chinese Grand Prix in March. He described the car's setup and overall process as moving in the right direction this weekend, expressing relative happiness with the recovery. However, he emphasized the tight competition among the top teams, with two McLarens, Max Verstappen's Red Bull, and George Russell's Mercedes ahead of him. Hamilton is targeting a podium finish from his P5 starting position, hoping to achieve it "for once." Meanwhile, his teammate Charles Leclerc will start from seventh, his Q3 session compromised by a lack of new soft tires. Leclerc revealed that his team had only four sets of soft tires going into qualifying, forcing them to sacrifice one in Q1. He hopes this strategic choice of conserving medium and hard tires will pay off in Sunday's hot race conditions, where tire management is expected to be crucial.