Hamilton in the exploration phase with his Mercedes on the settings side

Since he won his 6th world crown in Austin, Lewis Hamilton experiments, flirts with new limits, tries to do things differently in his constant quest for perfection. For the moment, the verdict is not very conclusive on the clock, but the pilot Mercedes refuses to be discouraged.  

« I've been exploring new things on the car for two races, confided Hamilton on the evening of the first free practice sessions for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It’s easy to go too far in these cases but I persist and sign in the hope that it will pay off in the end. 

We already know what works, but I'm not the type to settle for the status quo. I'm still trying to see if there are other ways to exploit the car and the tires. This has the effect of making the car more unpredictable. It's difficult to find the right rhythm ». 

Hamilton ends Friday at Yas Marina more than three tenths off the benchmark set by his teammate Valtteri Bottas. The Finn, however, has a new engine and will start at the back of the grid on Sunday, hence a slightly different approach on both sides of the Mercedes garage. 

« I hope I can get a trigger to unlock something, added the Briton. I'm using different tools that haven't really paid off yet this season trying to see if they can bring gains. This is a proactive way of thinking ahead of next season because the situation could be different ». 

Despite his experiments, Hamilton still points ahead of Ferrari and Red Bull.