F1: Lewis Hamilton makes bold prediction as Toto Wolff goes further

Lewis Hamilton is certain the Mercedes F1 team will be fighting for race wins in the not too distant future after an impressive comeback drive at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. The British racer's opening lap collision dropped him to 19th place, but a strong drive saw him move up to fifth when the chequered flag dropped.

Mercedes brought a raft of upgrades to the Circuit de Catalunya to stem their struggles with porpoising and lack of overall pace. The new parts finally unleashed the pace the Silver Arrows hoped their extreme "sidepod-less" car was capable of when they unveiled it during the Bahrain pre-season test.

The reigning Constructors' champions were not far off the pace set by Red Bull Racing and Ferrari during Friday practice, and continued their fine form into qualifying. While Mercedes were still around half a second slower on one-lap pace, they showed their strength during the race.

George Russell battled the Red Bull cars for most of the race and finished a credible third, which was assisted by Charles Leclerc's retirement. Hamilton, on the other hand, recovered from an opening lap shunt to make his way through the field and finish fifth - it would have been fourth if not for a late reliability issue.

Hamilton was upbeat after the race, and believes the team has made huge strides forward with their latest upgrades. The seven-time world champion feels the only way now is forward, and is certain he will be fighting for race wins as the season progresses.

"We've made a lot of improvements with the car," Hamilton said, as quoted by Sky Sports. "The race pace is much, much better... the car is much nicer in the race. This is a great sign we're going in the right direction."

"Without [my start], I would have been fighting the Red Bulls," he added. "That gives me great hope that at some stage we'll be fighting for the win."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, meanwhile, has gone one step further and claimed that Mercedes are right back in the hunt for the title. Leclerc's DNF from a comfortable first place, and Sainz's fourth place finish saw both Red Bull and Mercedes make huge strides forward in the both the championships.

"Can we fight for a world championship? You bet we can," Wolff said. "We have reasons to believe we can get there. If you look at the standings that is very hard to see but motor racing is a different ball game."

"We've seen today that Ferrari didn't score a lot of points when they should have and we will absolutely push flat out to bring us back into the game."