Lewis Hamilton admits his Mercedes “didn’t quite feel as good” after a low-key start to the second pre-season test.
The Briton managed a strong day in Barcelona, completing 89 laps and with a best time of 1m17.5s on the C2 tyre, matching Alex Albon in the Red Bull on the same compound.
But whereas the world champion was thrilled with the W11 for most of the first test, that enthusiasm wasn’t quite there after his morning run.
“It’s been a good session and a good start to the second week of testing here in Barcelona,” Hamilton declared.
“We’ve just got our heads down, trying to continue increasing our mileage and our understanding of this car – through the subtle changes with car set-up, the tyres and the aerodynamic package.
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“A fairly standard day, but it was a bit windier out there and it felt like the track had less grip – so there was some sliding around. The car didn’t quite feel as good as the first week, but I’m sure that will change as the test progresses and the track conditions improve.”
Valtteri Bottas was also quite anonymous finishing ninth with 90 laps to his name but he saw the day as much more educational.
“Very good mileage today, 90 laps. For half a day in the car, that’s really good,” he commented. “We got some good set-up tests done and focused on long-running.
“I think we picked up lots of learning points, although it was a bit tricky this afternoon with gusty wind, which made it sometimes more difficult to understand the set-up changes in detail, but I am sure we’ll analyse everything overnight and find the learnings from it.
“Everything ran smoothly, except a slightly late start to the day with some big changes over lunchtime, but still we got some good running in and it’s good to be back in the car again.”
In his summary, technical director James Allison explained Thursday would be another day focused on understanding the W11 before upping the pace on the final day.