Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport driver Valtteri Bottas has described his Friday practice running for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix as a ‘good day’ but insisted that there’s ‘work’ still to do.
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Red Bull’s pace on the longer runs will also be giving both Mercedes and Ferrari plenty of food for thought when it comes to plotting tomorrow’ race.
Red Bull has been the team to peg them back, however, with Daniel Ricciardo, the highest profile driver to crash in the morning, within a tenth-and-a-half of Hamilton in second and on the same Soft tyre.
Vettel conceded the battle for pole position will be fierce, saying: “We could end up in P1 or P6 but I think we can improve”. Mercedes, on the other hand, have not challenged for the win, but were benefactors of a well times safety auto in Baku that allowed them to finish ahead of the Ferrari.
“We are very pleased to have received preliminary approval towards bringing a Formula One Grand Prix to Miami”, said Sean Bratches, Formula One’s commercial managing director.
Hamilton has not felt fully comfortable with his vehicle and recognised that his championship advantage owes a lot to luck. The two-time world champion, who has one win at the Circuit de Catalunya to his name, told reporters that he felt saddened by the current direction of F1 and would not decide his plans for 2019 until after this year’s European summer break in August.
“I have zero comfortability”.
Formula One’s reigning champion loves the idea but has already given thumbs down on the proposed route of the race.
“At the moment we are capitalising on surrounding circumstances that have hindered the outcome of a race”.
Lewis Hamilton is not sure when he will be unable to unlock the true potential of his Mercedes after admitting the team’s understanding of the vehicle is not as good as it was a year ago.
However, Hamilton – a two-time victor in Spain – refused to read too much into his performance in FP2.
Bottas would set his best time of the day in the morning, which was only two-tenths behind Hamilton’s afternoon benchmark, but amid the problems with the tyres would only be fifth in the second session.
“The upgrades we brought here are a step forward”, Alonso said. “But we left testing with a good set-up and that should help us”, the British racing driver said. “I think more unlocking the potential of the auto”, Hamilton said. Vettel spun on the entry to Turn 13 early on.
It is no surprise that Red Bull Racing are contemplating a switch to Honda power for 2019.
Bottas was also encouraged by Mercedes’ pace but nevertheless expects another three-team battle for supremacy.
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“Everything we put on the vehicle seems to work and that’s important”, Vettel said. Here, in the last five years, I did much better races than previously, even if I was not able to win the race.
