« The car seems more competitive to me, » Hamilton delighted with his Mercedes
The British driver had a good first day at the Zandvoort circuit. The seven-time world champion is enthusiastic about the rest of the weekend.
He was among the best during the first practice sessions. The British driver achieved the third fastest time in the morning and the fourth in the afternoon. Faced with this performance, the Mercedes driver believes he has a competitive car for this Dutch Grand Prix.
« It was a great day for me. I woke up this morning with so much enthusiasm about getting back in the car, and from the first lap, I felt like we had a good starting point to work from. The first practice session went generally well. We made some changes for FP2, and I’m not sure if we made progress or not, so we’ll delve deeper to investigate. Overall, the car feels more competitive here, so we want to keep that and see if we can extract more from it », says Lewis Hamilton.
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, the free practice sessions were tougher for George Russell, who finished far behind his teammate. 11th and then 14th, his attempts at fast laps left him way down in the hierarchy. However, he remains optimistic.
« It felt good to get back in the car after several weeks out of the cockpit. Overall, I feel good. The race pace seemed strong, and there is also a lot of potential for qualifying, even if it didn’t really show in today’s times for me. It was definitely one of our best Fridays, and I’m optimistic for the rest of the weekend », the young British driver assures.
