Friday: Positive day for McLaren
The McLaren team drivers set the two best times in the first practice session before being more discreet in the second - to preserve their cars in the rain. Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were therefore pleased with their cars, even though they know it's always difficult to know where everyone stands.
Jenson Button – 1st and 15th
«Even though it doesn’t mean much, it’s always nice to start the season with the fastest time of the day. Our car feels different compared to the last tests – the track is different, the average cornering speed is lower, but the car still works well for me.»
« There are still a few areas where we can improve, I think, and we didn’t do as many laps as we would have liked today either, but it was a positive day. We did setup work this morning and then spent the afternoon understanding how the car reacts when we drive with intermediate or wet tires. »
The weather didn’t help, but it was the same for everyone. Overall, I think we’re quite happy, but there will be a lot of discussions tonight to decide which direction to take for tomorrow.
Lewis Hamilton – 2nd and 16th
«We spent the morning ensuring that we could test the tires. Then, in the afternoon, we didn’t drive much in the rain because the forecast indicates that the rest of the weekend should be dry. In such circumstances, it’s important to stay calm, preserve the car, and make sure to stay focused on the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow, it will be important to go out early in the session and thus maximize our dry running to be able to work on the settings.
Our single-seater seems good here but, as during private testing, we don’t know the fuel loads the others are running with: it always seems very tight between us, Red Bull, and Mercedes. It will be interesting tomorrow – we’ll have a better understanding of who will be fast. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the weekend unfolds.
