Lewis Hamilton applauded the "amazing" progress of Formula 1's top midfield teams after a very close Practice 2 at the Spanish Grand Prix.
As Mercedes finished one-two on Friday in Barcelona, a poor afternoon for their rivals Red Bull saw them slip to P9 and P10 in the final session standings.
It was a result that highlighted how many the F1 grid has closed up in 2021, with 1.043s covering the first 16 cars and 0.504s separating Hamilton in P1 to Carlos Sainz in P8.
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"We just focus on our job and I just focus on my job but it’s amazing to see the progress that McLaren and Ferrari are making and even Alpine," the seven-time world champion noted post-session.
"Yes, I mean it’s fantastic to see them so strong, but that applies pressure for us also. It’s not just for one group."
Third-place Charles Leclerc almost matched Valtteri Bottas' lap time in FP2, and the Finn doesn't think that should be overlooked.
“It seems close," he said. "I think Ferrari was pretty good today so you never know.
"I think we should keep on focusing on our performance and get the maximum out of the package and hopefully we can be ahead, but we’ll just focus on ourselves and for me, especially, focus on my work.”
Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was rather ecstatic after practice.
“I think it was our best Friday so far [in 2021], so pretty encouraging and we just discussed on the pit wall so we have 24 hours to really screw it up,” the Austrian smiled.
“It’s quite an interesting phenomenon we’ve spotted… we have so much fun like we haven’t had for many years.
"It reminds me of 2013, we were just an inch behind, and now it’s coming back to work all happy and all cheery and we’re just hunting.”
