Lewis Hamilton ‘relaxed’ ahead of Spanish Grand Prix despite Mercedes woes

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton is 'relaxed' ahead of the Barcelona Grand Prix despite his team's ongoing woes this season and his mammoth deficit in the championship standings.

Hamilton is 68 points behind championship leader Charles Leclerc and has been outshone by new teammate George Russell, who has finished ahead of the seven-time champion in each of the last four race weekends.

With ongoing struggles this season, questions have been asked about Hamilton's long-term position in Formula One and speculation of a potential retirement has been present ever since the dramatic conclusion to last season's title fight in Abu Dhabi.

This weekend's Grand Prix in Barcelona is a crucial stage of the season as it marks the start of the first double-header race weekend of the season, with Monaco swiftly following suit, and the pressure on Mercedes and Hamilton continues to rise.

However, Hamilton has stated he's 'relaxed' ahead of a trip to a venue where he has secured victory in five consecutive seasons, telling the Petronas Youtube channel: "When you go to places like Barcelona, you have so much data from decades of driving there.

"You go there and it's much more relaxed because we know more about it and it's easy to prepare for."

Mercedes are set to utilise a number of upgrades this weekend as they seek to solve the 'porpoising' issues that have plagued their season so far and will be able to compare data in the practice sessions to their pre-season spell in Catalonia.

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The team have also reportedly been testing at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France prior to the race weekend in Barcelona, with George Russell said to be behind the wheel of a Mercedes with new specifications at the circuit.

It's reported that there has been a modest speed increase with the new specification, resulting in an additional 2-3mph, but the key problem to solve is the extreme bouncing down the straights that has left both cars with significant problems.

Mercedes are not the only team utilising a new upgrade package this weekend, with championship leaders Ferrari also putting their new developments to use.

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