“It’s been a tough week, we’ve done a lot of mileage”, said Hamilton.
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“The vehicle is quick, and there are some real innovations on it – I’m very impressed”, he told reporters in Barcelona.
“Before we came here the team were talking about doing 800km a day and I was thinking they are insane”. I’ve never had a week like this when the vehicle has just kept going on and on.
It will be the same for Thursday, with Hamilton to run in the morning, and Rosberg taking over the wheel in the afternoon.
He added: “I don’t agree with the changes that are made, and have been made for many, many years, so you just live with it”.
Whilst Mercedes might not have topped the timing screens – that honour went to their nearest rival Ferrari – they have certainly topped the mileage table with an unprecedented number of laps across all four days.
“And I just realised that when I got into F1 the auto was 605kg or 610kg and now it’s 100kg heavier”.
“It’s been physically challenging, but I’m so proud of my guys”.
Defending Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has hit out at plans for a revolution in the sport’s regulations in 2017 and claimed drivers’ opinions should be more valued.
A “Driver of the Day” award has also been proposed, with fans encouraged to vote during the race.
“But now my sole focus is again on winning the title – but Nico also has grown, so I have to accept that he is exceptionally fast and so I also have to lift my bar again”. Sceptics have already predicted this is likely to become a popularity contest rather than anything more substantial. But according to Hamilton, Rosberg “had it good” in the final month of the season when the world champion, by his own admission, switched off after securing his third title.
“I don’t feel the new qualifying format is going to change much”.
Asked if he was surprised by Ferrari’s tactic, Hamilton replied: “I’m not surprised and I didn’t even know that was the case. I don’t know what the answer is but whatever the decisions they have been making, they have not been working for some time”.
While Mercedes and their seemingly bulletproof reliability enjoyed another trouble-free day in Barcelona, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso missed the majority of the day’s action following a water leak.
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However, a new knockout format for qualifying will be introduced ahead of the start of this season on March 20 to try and mix up the grid to provide for more exciting races.
