Hamilton in Saudi free practice: no confidence in the rear and warning | FP

Ups and downs for Mercedes

First day of testing partially positive for the Mercedes in Saudi Arabiawhere the events were held PL1 and PL2 with different times and feedback between the two drivers of the Anglo-German company. The most obvious example can be found in the performance of George Russellwho finished both sessions in the top five in the rankings. 4th in PL1, the Englishman then improved his performance in PL2, arriving 2nd two tenths behind Fernando Alonso.

Distrust and risks for Hamilton

His teammate, however, is more in difficulty Lewis Hamilton. 8th in both free practices, the seven-time world champion was also summoned by Race Direction at the end of PL2 for a dangerous impeding on Logan Sargeant at turn 10, with the American Williams driver narrowly avoiding the collision.

While Hamilton was cautioned for the maneuverwithout however receiving a penalty, Mercedes received a fine of 15,000 euros: “It was a difficult day – commented the future Ferrari driver, who at the end of PL2 also complained about a drop in power – I lacked a bit of confidence in the rear of the car. We worked on the set-up from one session to the next and changed the car a bit. The However, the main problem that put me in difficulty in both FP1 and FP2 was the rear. I had some difficult moments and on a high-speed track like this you have to have full trust. I haven't succeeded yet. We will analyze the data tonight to see how we can improve. George was clearly happier with the car today. We went in slightly different directions and hopefully we can learn from this and find the right solutions.”

Still uncertainty about the race pace

Therefore different sensations compared to those expressed by Russellwho commented on the evolution of his day as follows: “It was fun to get back on track here in Jeddah – he added – it's a high-speed circuit, so it's nice. We didn't have the car in the perfect window and FP2 was a bit of a difficult session. The times looked good on the single lap, but we are not yet sure of our position in the long runs. We did a lot of testing in FP1 with different car setups. Then we made some changes for FP2 to try and learn more about the W15. It's still very early: it's only the second race of the season and the second circuit we've raced on in anger. We must continue to take advantage of our teachings and everyone will be busy at night to achieve greater performance. We are once again very close, so let's see what we can do tomorrow.”