F1 | Hamilton: “We are very close, but I like this”

The reigning world champion wanted to immediately set the record straight. So, behind the wheel of his racing car W09, on the first track day of the season he was very fast both in the morning and in the afternoon. Hamilton he left no crumbs to his rivals, always finishing in the lead, with the best time of 1:23.931 – on ultrasoft rubber – in the qualifying simulation of Free Practice 2. Here are his first impressions of the year.

“At the first race you never have an idea of ​​what to expect, both from a physical point of view and in terms of the tyres, but it seems to me that today we started off on the right foot. We have put together everything we needed. In Free Practice 2 the gap between us leading riders narrowed a bit, but this is exciting. A bigger challenge for me as I have to always try to get a little more out of my car. As for the covers, it seems we don't have the same blistering problem here as we suffered in Barcelona during testing. Obviously the car is faster than last year, so I'd say things are better in every way.

“Turns 11 and 12 at this speed are crazy, we don't even brake when we're inside. From what I know, rain is expected tomorrow and Sunday: I haven't driven under water yet with these new tires... it will be interesting to see how it goes."