Although Mercedes have not yet found themselves in proper contention for race victories in 2022, they are getting closer, and the W🌟13 showed ಌmore encouraging signs of competitiveness at the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

George Russell scored his maiden F1 pole position, and while he ultimately wꦚasn’t able to hang on for his first win, Mercedes celebrated their second straight d💜ouble-podium.

Hamilton’s strong rac༺e pace enabled him to catch and pass Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the same strategy, before his late charge to second place was complete when he overtook Mercedes teammate George Russell. 

It marked the seven-time world champion’s f✃ifth consecutive podium🌼 finish. 

“It's a great feeling for us, given the year we've had, and obviously 💜to see the progress that we've started to make,” Hamilton said after the race in Hungary. 

“Last week [in France], just getting the second place last week was huge for us already, and this is now two races in a row that George and I𝕴 have shared a podium, whic🌸h is fantastic for the team, points-wise.

“To both finish ahead of the Ferraris is huge for us, given the pace that they've had. And for me, obviously, starting the race i♔n seventh and gett♍ing up here is a great recovery.

“I think given the troubles we had through the weeke𒁃nd, that s𒐪hows that we've got really great pace.”

Over the 🐎last six races, only championship leader Max Verstappen (133) has scoreꦐd more points than Hamilton (96), who is sixth in the drivers’ standings and just 12 points behind fourth-placed Russell.

Meanwhile, in the constructors’ championship, a combination of Mercedes ꦓconsistency and a string of Ferrari failures - both mechanical and strategic - has enabled the German manufacturer to reduce the gap to second place to just 30 points. 

Given Mercedes’ recent improvements, there is a genuine chance they could ove🍃rhaul Ferrari during the final nine races of the season. 

“Second - first loser,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff when asked if there is a chance to beat Ferrari to second p𒊎lace in the constructors’. 

“For me, personally, whether [we are] sec🤡ond or third in the constructors' world🐲 championship, is not so relevant compared to really racing and being at the front.

“Developing the car so we can win ඣraces on merit, beat the Ferraris, beat the Red Bulls and prepare for next year, rather than really care about the championship pos✱ition.”

In the drivers’ championship, Russell is now just 20 points behind Leclerc, wit🐈h Hamilton trailing the Monegasque by 32 points. 

Based on current form and momentum, you would no𝔉t put it past the Mercedes drivers to end up second and third in the championꦑship (in either order) by the end of the campaign. 

More upgrades to come for Mercedes 

Mercedes’ upturn in competitiveness has been noticeable since a major aerodynamic package was introduced at Sܫilverstone, while further new parts were brought🌞 to Paul Ricard. 

Following the French Grand Prix, Mercedes’ strategy director James Vowles said the team still have “far, far more” upgrades to introduce across ౠthe remainder of the season. 

M🌊ercedes have now confirmed they are planning to bring updates to the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of the mo𒁏nth following F1’s summer break. 

“We’ve got more coming,” said Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.&nbs🥂p;

“We are trying to bring some performance to Spa that will hopefully close that gap, we haven’tﷺ got far to go now. But we'll keep developing the car for a little while now. 

“We're quite excited though, the last few races have been the most fun we've had all year and w🌳e are just hoping that we can take that extra step because ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚwe definitely want to be winning races in the near future.

“So we are working hard to try and achieve that.”