F1 | Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton flies but reveals: “I hope it doesn't rain!”
The world champion will face a ten-place grid penalty: "I need to concentrate on Sunday"
Lewis Hamilton's weekend seems to be off to an apparently uphill start: the Brackley team has in fact communicated, on the eve of the Turkish Grand Prix, the replacement of the internal combustion engine (ICE) on the world champion's W12, who will have to serve a ten-place penalty on the starting grid. Particular choice for Mercedes, which chooses not to replace the entire Power Unit. Sir Lewis will therefore have to aim for pole position to limit the damage and go after rival Max Verstappen, who was in slight difficulty in Friday's free practice. It's Hammer time, however, for the Mercedes driver, who puts himself at the top of the charts in both sessions: he's four tenths ahead of the Dutchman in FP1, while in the afternoon the gap between the two is six tenths, with Verstappen in fifth position.
F1 | Free practice analysis in Türkiye: Hamilton flies, surprises Leclerc
"The track is totally different compared to last year: in 2020 there was oil on the track coming from the new asphalt and it was very difficult to find grip. For this weekend I didn't know what to expect, but the grip levels are really intense, it's great. It's much nicer to drive here now – confirmed the world champion – we took to the track with an excellent set-up in FP1, we went very well. However, we made some changes for FP2, also considering the evolution of the track: the car was not at the top like in the morning, but we certainly collected a lot of data. We are almost close to the maximum performance that this package can give us, but the work during the night always brings something new, so we will work hard to confirm our pace for tomorrow, let's hope it doesn't rain! I have a lot of work to do on Sunday and I need to concentrate on doing my best tomorrow, obviously I'm aiming for pole to limit the damage".
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