Lewis Hamilton says he feels his car is in a position to fight for victory at the Spanish Grand Prix despite Mercedes downplaying its overall lap time.
Lando Norris was fastest in FP1 and Hamilton topped FP2 as Mercedes continued their strong trend on Friday. But in the last two races, he maintained that form in qualifying and the race. Hamilton said he was focused more on confidence in the car than on the rankings. At this stage of the weekend, he believes Mercedes are one of four teams in the mix for victory.
“P1 was just so-so. I steered the car and learned a lot from that session. P2 definitely felt a lot better,” said Hamilton. “We made some good changes and the car feels really good today.
“It was very hot and the track was very hard on the tires. Especially in the long run. But it doesn’t feel like we’re too far away. I don’t necessarily consider lap times too much, but I think the car is definitely in a better position. I think we have some work to do to improve it overnight and see if we can hold off the Red Bulls, Ferraris and McLarens.”
Hamilton says the work Mercedes has done in recent weeks has enabled drivers to extract more lap times from the W15, even if the direct performance gains are small.
“We are definitely working [towards being back in the fight]“He said. “Everyone at the factory has been working hard, as they do every year. But with more North Stars, I think we have a much better understanding of where we want to go with our cars.
“I think because of the incremental steps they’ve taken, everyone is working so hard to build the components and get them consistent rather than in big chunks here and there. thank you. We are starting to see how comfortable we are as drivers behind the wheel of the car, which is positive.”
Team-mate George Russell finished FP2 in eighth place, almost half a second ahead of Hamilton, but said there were encouraging signs for Mercedes despite the deficit.
“I feel really good,” Russell said. “The car’s performance on this circuit has improved significantly.” “I guess I’ll have to take a look. Clearly Lewis topped the worksheet, which was great to see. I felt really strong on the medium tires and long run speeds and in FP1 I was right up there with the fastest speeds. “It’s still Friday, but it’s been a while since we’ve been consistently at the top.”
Max Verstappen was unfazed by Red Bull’s tricky start to the weekend despite recording the fifth-fastest pace in the second practice session. Because he felt there were no glaring problems to deal with.
“We just tried a few different setups in FP1 and FP2, so we’re just trying to do some fine tuning,” Verstappen said. “But at least that day was a bit more normal with no problems. So, that’s what we were hoping for. Now I’m just trying to tidy up my car a bit, but that’s completely normal.
“[The updates] It was very small. Nothing too big. But so far, everything feels normal.”
