Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are not yet overflowing with enthusiasm about the new car concept after Friday in Barcelona. For the seven-time world champion, his car just feels like he is used to, so Mercedes is still looking. Russell thinks it will be better from Saturday, because Mercedes has not really shown itself as a Friday specialist during the season. The new circuit layout is pleasing.
Hamilton was less than thrilled at Sky when asked about his car on Friday. ‘It’s okay. We fight as hard as we can. I would say it was a difficult day with FP1 and FP2 just to be on top of the tires and the relegation. Our car feels like the car. The long run pace didn’t look terrible. We just have to try to figure out how to get more out of it in one round.’
New layout is popular
At Viaplay he was positive about the adaptation to the circuit. “Growing up I watched the Grand Prix and saw those last two corners. My first real test was on this circuit in 2006, and I remember how hard that was on the neck,” he expects that it has become a lot more physically difficult now that the chicane has been removed.
Russell is also very pleased with the new circuit layout in Barcelona, he tells Sky. “First of all, it was fun to drive on the new version of the Barcelona track. I think it went from probably the worst corner in Formula 1 to probably one of the best corners in Formula 1. It’s really fun. We learned a lot and collected a lot of data.’
Mercedes not a Friday specialist
The fact that things did not go quite as hoped on Friday is no longer a surprise to the Briton. We are not Friday specialists. We tend to take a step forward on Saturday and Sunday. We are where we are and many people have updated their cars. We didn’t expect to suddenly set the world on fire. We just have to learn what we can from the information we have and try to move on tomorrow.”
