McLaren: Hamilton calm, Button disappointed after free practice at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton said he was calm about the performance of his McLaren Mercedes despite a difficult start to the British Grand Prix weekend. The Woking team have introduced a package of numerous changes to the car for this race with the hope of closing the gap to Red Bull. However, the energy drinks team dominated today's free practice at Silverstone as Hamilton finished eighth fastest, 1 seconds behind Mark Webber.

“I think we have definitely taken a step forward compared to Valencia,” said Hamilton. “It's a track like Barcelona, ​​where there can be almost a second of difference between us and Red Bull. But I don't think we'll see that gap. Tomorrow we will be much closer. If we get the setup right we shouldn't have any problems. We fitted the new components and I was quite excited this morning, and the feeling was very positive. I was surprised at the pace of the morning. We made some changes in terms of set-up and they didn't make the car better, but sometimes it happens. So we're going back to the set-up we had at the start and from there we hope to improve it tomorrow. But in general I think the car's performance is good."

His teammate, Jenson Button, admitted his disappointment at having struggled with the balance of the car.

“Today the car was more difficult than expected” declared Button, 13th after free practice 2. “First of all I didn't find the set-up with the new package, but it improved towards the end of the day, even if there were 'there is still a lot of work to do. We are not where we want to be. The car is very unpredictable in some parts of the circuit. We've definitely made improvements in some areas, but we still don't have the right balance. It wasn't a perfect day for me, which is disappointing because even though it's Friday it's nice to see so many spectators."