When asked to comment on the news of Nico Rosberg re-signing to be his teammate, Hamilton said: “It’s alright. The auto is very quick, so a good start to the weekend”. With a time of 1:20.435, the best of the second session and also of the day, the German driver, 31, celebrated his renewal for two more seasons up to 2018 with Mercedes.
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“I’ve always said that I’m happy at Mercedes”, Rosberg said.
The defending champion, bidding to make history this weekend by becoming the first driver to win on five occasions in Hungary, posted a best lap of one minute and 21.347 seconds to lead the way ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Rosberg’s time was already 1.585 seconds faster than last year’s top qualifying time, achieved by Hamilton. Apart from the last race, it’s generally a very solid team. “All the radio issues we’ve had, I think it’s a joke”, the Ferrari driver told reporters on Thursday during preparations for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton hit the tyre wall at Turn 11 after clipping the white kerb on corner entry, which flicked his vehicle into a half-spin.
“Obviously, it’s a great feeling to start the day like that with the contract being sorted”, he continued.
Hamilton said: “My apologies to the crew for all the hard work they have ahead and getting it back together”.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be in quite such a strong position tomorrow – but for now it’s very positive”.
The German, who clocked a best lap of one minute and 20.435 seconds, was half a second faster than Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in the second place. “You see these MotoGP riders and they ride with broken ankles and collar bones and we have one little busted finger and they don’t want you to race, but fortunately I have no problems and the medical team did a great job”.
Sebastian Vettel, who won the race previous year, was third in his Ferrari ahead of fourth-placed Verstappen.
McLaren, meanwhile, were forced to fit a new power unit into Fernando Alonso’s vehicle, while the Spaniard was in the garage for the majority of the session due to a damaged floor.
Kimi Raikkonen was sixth for Ferrari ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and his McLaren Honda team-mate 2009 champion Jenson Button. Most recently, Rosberg and Hamilton have dealt with several teammate crashes that put Wolff on the edge of instigating more stringent team orders.
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A routine check-up was mandatory after the impact triggered a sensor on Hamilton’s W07 but Mercedes decided against further running despite the minimal damage to the vehicle.
