Hamilton finds the narrowing gaps in FP2 “stimulating”

The four-time world champion dominated the first day of testing in Melbourne by setting the best time in the two free sessions on Friday. The margin of which Hamilton enjoyed over his rivals in the morning, however, reduced in the afternoon, passing half a second on his teammate Valtteri Bottas to the tenth on the Red Bull de Max Verstappen. Ferrari is also in the mix, especially on long relays.

« It was a good day, said Hamilton as he got out of the car. When you arrive at the first race, you never really know how things are going to go, how you are going to be physically, how the tires are going to behave on the track but we are clearly off to a good start. The gaps narrowed during FP 2 but I find it stimulating. I like the challenge of extracting that little extra performance that will make the difference. We will have to study whether it was me who lost time or the others who found it. »

Bottas, for his part, was not able to have as convincing a start as his garage neighbor, the fault of mechanical glitches which occurred in the morning.

« The first session was complicated for me with a small problem with the suspension but also the fuel system, explained Bottas. In FP2, I felt much more comfortable in the car. The gaps seem very tight between Ferrari, Red Bull, and us but we expected that. »