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Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas comfortably outpaced teammate Lewis Hamilton in both of Friday's free practice (FP) sessions at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. The Finn believes he had an "ideal" start to his weekend at the new venue where he was able to find the correct balance with his car and looks forward to a promising weekend ahead.
Bottas was third-fastest in the afternoon practice session and fastest in the evening session. The Finn had a better run than teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was fourth-fastest in both sessions. Speaking to the press afterward, he said:
“I think the team did a really good job on the 'guestimation' of the set-up. It's not far off the sweet spot, but obviously, there's always work to do, and even driving-wise in two sessions, you can't yet find all the speed that is available.”
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While Lewis Hamilton came out saying he felt he was off-pace, Bottas didn’t have much difficulty adapting to the 5.38km circuit. Describing his run in both sessions, Mercedes' FP2 pace-setter said:
“Today started nicely with the set-up so actually the balance was pretty good in the first run, only minor tweaks to be done for FP2 so I would say that's an ideal way to start a weekend on a new track. It's hard to make conclusions from today, but at least, like I said, the feeling was okay and that's promising for the rest of the weekend.”
Although Mercedes looked quick in FP2, Red Bull F1 seemed to be on a different program, which masked their true pace. However FP3 and qualifying will be a better indicator of the pecking order in Qatar.
Lewis Hamilton sports rainbow crash helmet design to send out social message
Lewis Hamilton's helmet featured a rainbow design to support the LGBTIQA+ community in Qatar, which has an undesirable human rights record. The Briton, who has spearheaded the need for diversifying F1 as a sport in terms of race, color and gender, believed in sending out a social message in Qatar to influence cultural change.
The Briton had formed the Hamilton Commission in the sport to raise a voice against cultural, gender, and racial issues in the sport. F1 believes it can drive cultural change in the Gulf country.
