LEWIS HAMILTON
MP4-24-04
P1 programme 23 laps 1m28.952s (2nd)
A busy and productive first session. Starting on a green track, Lewis nonetheless quickly got down to business during three timed runs (a fourth was cut short by the late-session red flag). Running on Prime tyres throughout, Lewis completed runs of five laps/1m30.247s best, four laps/1m29.319s and four laps/1m29.263s.
“The track was very slippery this morning, particularly in the first sector where several cars were sliding around a lot,” said Lewis. “But we had a very good session, I was very satisfied with the car: it felt good to drive. More encouragingly, I could also feel a subtle improvement from the new parts we tested today. A good start to our weekend.”
P2 programme 31 laps 1m29.435s (13th)
Carrying on with a typical Friday afternoon tyre comparison session, Lewis ran a brief run on Primes to confirm between-session mechanical changes (two laps/1m29.435s) before completing two longer runs on Options (eight laps each – 1m29.810s and 1m29.450s). Adapting to rear stability issues, Lewis lost the back of the car at the exit of Turn One and later out-braked himself into Turn 12 during his final run on the Prime (two laps/1m29.887s). Nonetheless, the subtle mechanical and aerodynamic improvements made to MP4-24 for this race look promising.
Lewis said: “Before we arrived here, we thought we’d probably have the same sort of pace that we had in Barcelona, but it seems like we’re a little bit faster than we anticipated. I had a couple of spins this afternoon – but that just proves I was pushing hard! We have a little instability on the exit of some corners but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the pace of the car today. The guys back at the factory have worked hard to give us this improvement; now we’ll keep on working and trying to improve the car and hope that tomorrow is an even better day for us.”
MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“A good effort by Heikki today, who was quickest despite having a very frustrating two sessions. This morning, he had a valve problem with his tyres so had to switch sets at the last minute, which interrupted his programme. And this afternoon, he had a problem with his brake balance sensor. Despite all this, he conducted his full programme and made reasonable progress over his long runs.
“Lewis concentrated on a tyre comparison and set-up programme. I think we possibly went in a few wrong directions this afternoon, so we’re comfortable with the pace we’ve achieved. There’s still a lot of work left to do to optimise the car, but hopefully we can continue the strong progress we started today
“It’s always nice to see you’ve set the quickest time of the day. The reality is that the timesheets don’t lie – our aim for tomorrow is to hopefully get both cars into the final session of qualifying. That’s our realistic goal.”
NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Today was a productive test day for us. The laptimes seem to be closer than ever with just over seven tenths of a second separating Heikki in first from 16th place in the rankings. Our laptimes during this afternoon’s race simulations looked not bad and hopefully we can make another step forward tomorrow and start from a good position on the grid for Sunday’s race.”
