Hamilton: Ferrari seems to be getting closer

Lewis Hamilton had a good first day of testing at the Russian Grand Prix as he set the best time of the day in Sochi with a time of 1'37''583 where he relegated his closest pursuers to more than a half -second. The Briton remains confident despite his difficult weekend in Shanghai (China).

“It’s good to get back behind the wheel after this long wait after China”, rejoiced the three-time world champion. “We were able to almost complete our program, except for one thing that couldn't be done after I damaged my tires, but nothing too serious. »

“We are competitive on this circuit, but we must continue to work hard to stay ahead of the Ferrari. They seem to have gotten even closer this weekend.”, said the pilot Mercedes.

His teammate Nico Rosberg, the fastest of the morning, was further behind in the second session.

“It’s hard to be in the game straight away on this track because there is only a narrow window where the tires work perfectly and there are many places where you can make mistakes.”, recalled the German. “I only managed to complete a full flying lap on super soft tires in the second session. other than that it was a good day. The car performed well on a flying lap this morning and on the long runs this afternoon. This is very promising. »

“We have made some minor changes to the Power Unit, including a new engine oil. The main goal of the day was to make sure the package was working well, which it appears to be.", said Paddy Lowe, Mercedes technical executive director F1.