Bottas and Mercedes worked towards 2018

The world titles acquired, the clan Mercedes can approach the last two races of the year with a free mind. However, Lewis Hamilton et Valtteri Bottas did not let up this Friday at Interlagos in Brazil, achieving the double twice during the day's free practice sessions.

In addition to a higher level of performance than its rivals Ferrari et Red Bull, the German team worked with the Finnish driver for the next season, particularly on the aerodynamic level. « We had a fairly substantial program this morning studying some development elements for 2018, describes Mercedes AMG chief racing engineer Andrew Shovlin F1.

We had been putting off this work while we were still fighting for the championships, so it's very good to complete this. We have gathered a lot of good data from these tests which will all be integrated into the W09 development program. »

Some adjustments to be found according to Bottas

In the immediate wake of his teammate Hamilton, Bottas specifies that he has not yet found the optimal setting for his W08, but remains confident before qualifying on Saturday. « I think it was a positive day for us.

The short runs and longer stints in both sessions looked good for the team, so we have a good starting point for the weekend. Despite everything, we had a little difficulty getting the right setting for each corner of the circuit. However, I really enjoy this track and look forward to the sequel. »