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Lewis Hamilton had a very positive Friday as he kicked off the F1 Spanish GP on a high note. The Mercedes driver topped FP2 with a lap that was less than a tenth quicker than what the McLaren of Lando Norris and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz could achieve.
However, keeping in mind the form that Mercedes has had this season and the kind of results that the team has achieved in general, this was a major boost for the team and the driver. Talking to F1.com at the end of the day, Lewis Hamilton shared that he tried quite a few different things that didn't seem to work in FP1.
By FP2, however, the driver revealed that he had everything locked down and was positive about how the entire session went. He said,
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P1 was so-so. I went one direction with the car, we learnt quite a lot in that session. And then P2 definitely felt quite a bit better. I think we made some good changes and the car’s feeling really great today."
He added,
“Very hot, the track, very tough for the tyres, especially in the long runs, but it doesn’t feel like we’re too far off. I won’t really take too much notice of lap times necessarily, but I think the car’s definitely in a better place. I think we’ve got some work to do to improve it overnight and to see if we can hold onto the Red Bulls and the Ferraris and the McLarens.”
Lewis Hamilton will be trying to build on this and secure a strong result this weekend, especially since the start of the season has not been the best for him.
Lewis Hamilton's teammate echoes the positive sentiments
Lewis Hamilton's teammate George Russell echoed the positive sentiments as he also felt that the car felt strong throughout the day. Russell was in fact the faster of the Mercedes drivers throughout the day, but on the soft tire run, he made a mistake at the start of his lap and hence ended up with a compromised lap time. Talking to F1.com and recapping what had been overall a very strong day for the team, George said,
“[I’m] feeling good. The car’s performing really well around this circuit. I need to have a closer look at it, obviously Lewis topped the timesheets which was really great to see."
He added,
“I felt really strong on the medium tyre, long run pace in FP1 we were right up there with the quickest. It’s only Friday, but it’s been a while since we’ve been consistently at the upper-end.”
George Russell has been the benchmark at Mercedes this season as he leads Lewis Hamilton '8-1' in qualifying and '7-2' in races. The driver got the team's first podium in Canada and will be looking to build on that result.
