Hamilton highlights Mercedes' work on W08

Two best times in two free practice sessions got off to a good start Lewis Hamilton on the Catalan weekend in Barcelona. Beaten by his teammate Valtteri Bottas and both Ferrari in Russia, the three-time world champion said he was more than satisfied this Friday at the end of the first Spanish runs.

The Briton was notably able to count on a W08 revised by the technical teams of Mercedes, with many new features which offer good sensations to the former pilot McLaren.

“The team has done an incredible job with the improvements and the car is performing as we expected, Hamilton points out. It’s a much better start to the weekend than in Sochi, so I’m very happy. We just have to stay focused and keep working. We want to be the first. »

The promises of performance displayed by the W08 presented in Spain are also highlighted by Valtteri Bottas, who slightly qualifies the advantage of the Mercedes this Friday. “Today was important for the new package on the car, comments the Finn.

Our goal was to evaluate whether the new developments work well and it seems that this is the case. Right now it's a little early to know exactly where we stand, but everything seems to be working well. »

The wind as a guest

Hamilton, however, noted the few difficulties presented this Friday in Barcelona, ​​in particular the wind, which disturbed a good number of drivers, authors for Hag (Ferrari), Verstappen (Red Bull) small errors without unfortunate consequences.

“The first tests were very, very good, but in FP2 the track changed, and it was slippery and much slower for everyone, especially with the wind gusts. It was very difficult but still fun. »