Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton expressed optimism after his first representative run in Mercedes’ W09 on the final day of the opening pre-season test in Spain.
Hamilton completed only limited running in cold and damp conditions on Monday afternoon and opted out of Tuesday’s planned outing in order to maximise Mercedes’ track time, as Valtteri Bottas drove.
Snow and heavy rain meant Mercedes did not run on Wednesday, and Hamilton eventually enjoyed representative conditions on Thursday afternoon at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Hamilton, having had one quick time deleted on account of cutting the final chicane, surged to the front of the table with a 1:19.333, achieved on the Medium tyres, as he finished half a second clear of Stoffel Vandoorne.
“Today has been positive, I'm so happy that I could get in the car and I'm really excited that I could get some running in,” said Hamilton, who completed 69 laps.
“It's been the first time today that I've really been out to learn a lot more about the car and its characteristics. I got to see what she's like and stretch her legs a little bit.
“Driving a new car is like trying to crack a new code: you have to figure out which different techniques you need to get the most out of it. But the W09 feels like last year's big sister.
“Of course we've got things to learn and things to improve on balance-wise but overall my feeling is positive.”
Bottas ran predominantly during wet conditions, as the circuit dried following the prior cold and wet weather, and explained that his time in the W09 was still productive.
“I did a long run of roughly 30 laps on the Intermediates and could really feel the track conditions evolve during that run,” he said.
“We got some insights into the Intermediate tyres and their durability in temperatures like these.
“We later did a cross-over, changing from Inters to slicks tyres in a pit stops. That was very useful for the strategy team, but also for us as the drivers, as you learn a lot when you try to find the grip on the slicks and feel how the car behaves.
“So it turned out to be quite a useful morning despite the wet conditions. I did 60 laps which is what we had targeted.
“It would have been nice to drive a little more in the dry, but I think we made the most out of these conditions.”
