“Everything looks normal” on Hamilton's engine according to Mercedes

After 180 minutes of driving on Friday in free practice in Abu Dhabi, the team Mercedes estimate that Lewis Hamilton will be able to continue using its engine over the remainder of the last weekend of the racing season. Formula 1.

The block in question had suffered damage to the variable intake system at Interlagos where the five-time world champion came very close to retirement before finally winning. 

Ahead of the 2018 final, the German manufacturer provided several modifications to the ailing engine and held the two sessions on Friday before making a decision on a possible change of propellant. Such a replacement would then have resulted in a grid penalty for Hamilton. 

« We've carried out a series of checks on the Lewis powertrain and everything looks normal, which is good news, reported Andrew Shovlin, Star's director of track operations. 

It's always more complicated to manage temperatures and the risk of overheating during Free Practice 1 but apart from that, everything seems to be working correctly. In Free Practice 2, we had a more classic program and the car seemed more efficient, especially in the long stints. We have a good working base for the rest of the weekend ».

Mercedes finished the opening day with the best time, owned by Valtteri Bottas. The Finn, who admits to having had his worst season in terms of results this year, is hoping to repeat his success last year at Yas Marina where he won from pole position. 

« It's nice to be at the top of the timesheet, did he declare. It's up to us to build on that by finding the right settings for qualifying. We will try to adjust the set-up as needed and I also have to extract more performance myself ».