Lewis Hamilton on track in practice for the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.
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Sergio Perez (MEX) Force India 1:25.413, 13.
After rewinding and resetting, all that is left is for Hamilton to retain the title.
“There are those who bow out early, and there are those who won world championships that have not been that competitive”.
“You don’t know how you are going to feel physically, how the tyres are going to react to the circuit”. We met in Formula 3, where he was a lot better than I was, and then in Formula 1.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas crashed out in Q3.
“It closed up a little bit in P2 in terms of the gap between the cars, but that’s exciting anyway”, Hamilton said.
Technical chief James Allison said the Mercedes W09 would “blow away” last year’s model, and the auto showed no obvious weaknesses as it completed more laps than any other during pre-season testing. Next race: Bahrain Grand Prix, April 8, Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain. Tire supplier Pirelli has announced its soft, supersort and ultrasoft compounds for the weekend. The Briton’s auto was strong in testing and, after what he described as his best season previous year, he believes he is still in his best form. The only point of concern for Grosjean came when he ran a little wide over the curb at the high-speed Turn 12 and appeared to lose some bodywork.
For Hamilton, there were predictably perhaps, no such worries. “Potentially we are either level, just behind or maybe just ahead of the Red Bulls as far as I’m aware”. “My psychological war is I arrive fit and ready and I’m there to kill, and others know I’m good at what I do”.
The scene of the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.
“He’s done a very good job for many years now”, the 30-year-old said.
“I don’t think these issues are something to worry about, just something we discovered in the session”.
“That’s what I call a positive start to the season”.
He is quoted by Autosport as saying: “If you ever believe you are the best because you beat someone when they are down, that’s the worst”.
Hamilton has no concerns over the rain forecasted for the rest of the weekend as traditionally Mercedes has been better suited to cooler temperatures, compared to Ferrari. which has excelled in warmer conditions. He only got on the track after a long hold in the pits with an exhaust problem.
“From my personal feeling, we have quite a strong auto, but we have to wait and see how good our overall package is with the straights here (in Melbourne)”. “It looks like we’re in the battle with the midfield, but there’s still a bit to improve before qualifying tomorrow”.
“It’s brilliant as always after the winter testing to actually be racing again and to be finding out for real where our auto stands”.
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Thankfully he got out of the auto alright and wasn’t hampered by the Halo, exiting the W09 fairly rapidly with the marshal’s then able to shift the wrecked vehicle out of the way quickly to allow qualifying to get underway once again.
