Lewis Hamilton has spoken about Mercedes’ first pre-season test in Barcelona, saying that it wasn’t “simple or smooth.”
Despite leading the overall timesheets, Lewis Hamilton has identified numerous challenges that Mercedes must overcome after this week’s test in Barcelona.
Hamilton and Mercedes had a rough weekend, with the seven-time World Champion failing to complete a racing distance on his opening two stints due to a variety of problems.
Hamilton set the fastest with a timing of 1:19.138 on the Soft (C5) tyre after a more effective final afternoon, although he says the test was far from uncomplicated.
“It’s been an interesting few days; it’s not been the easiest or smoothest running – we have some obstacles to overcome,” said Hamilton.
“We’d always want more laps but I’m happy with today’s running. I got almost 100 laps in today, which for half a day’s running, isn’t too bad.
“The car is a lot different to drive than in previous years, as are the tyres, but we’re working our way through our programme.”
Hamilton: We don’t know where we are compared to other teams
Despite this, Hamilton complimented his team’s efforts and stated that it is far too early to speculate on Mercedes’ future position in the standings.
“The whole team have done an amazing job this week; the men and women back at the factory have worked so hard,” he added.
“We’ve got a lot of data to go through from these three days and we’ll just put one foot in front of the other and put in the work.
“It was good to get a feel for the different tyre compounds, but you never know where you are compared to the other teams on the first days of running.”
George Russell, Hamilton’s new teammate, was right behind him on the combined timings.
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