Lewis Hamilton was gleeful following Formula 1’s Friday practice sessions in Monaco, calling it “the best day” Mercedes has had so far this season.
Hamilton’s day got off to a fine start, narrowly topping opening practice by a margin of 0.029s and FP2 proved that performance wasn’t a flash in the pan as the Briton finished best of the rest behind Charles Leclerc, just under two-tenths shy of the Monegasque’s benchmark.
Those results are a far cry from what Mercedes has become accustomed to so far in the 2024 F1 campaign and with qualifying a vital ingredient in the Monaco GP’s makeup, Hamilton was in a buoyant mood in the TV pen.
“It’s been a good day, definitely been, well, the best day we’ve had on track,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“The car was feeling really positive, [I’m] really enjoying driving and the track is amazing and the grip was feeling quite good.”
Hamilton adjudged Mercedes “still had some challenges with the balance, but it was looking strong.”
Mercedes’ last two trips to Monaco had been a bumpy ride for Hamilton, with the team struggling with mechanical setup around the iconic street circuit, but from the outset, the seven-time world champion was not only “surprised” with positive grip levels but also noted that it was “a more enjoyable ride than we’ve had here the last two years particularly.”
Hamilton “absolutely” believes Mercedes has strong qualifying place and the only area of improvement is in the W15’s long-run capability.
George Russell meanwhile, despite experiencing vibration issues with his steering in FP2, resigning him to 10th position, concurred with Hamilton’s positive mood.
“As soon as I touched the brakes the whole thing was shaking to bits, so I don’t know what was going on,” Russell said as he described the alarming sensations behind the wheel of the #63 machine.
“I tried my best holding it as hard as I could, I was like a gorilla, holding onto it and the think kept shaking so on a track like this where you need confidence to attack it really set us back and we just decided it was best to call it a day during the long run and try and analyse what was going on.”
Russell, who was third in opening practice added that “Generally, we’ve been performing really well today. Clearly working well.”
However, despite acknowledging that “Charles [Leclerc] is miles in front,” Russell had plenty of good things to say about his day’s work.
“We know how quickly everything changes, but definitely today has been one of our best Fridays no doubt,” he said, mimicking Hamilton.
“The car’s been feeling the best I’ve ever felt around Monaco.
“So lots of positives.
“Everybody is developing so quickly at the moment and you see how quick the lap times are today compared to last year, you know, we’re way, way quicker.
“You know, potentially even breaking the lap record, someone will probably do[so] tomorrow, hopefully, it will be us.
“It’s feeling good, we’ll have to see what the weather does as well.”
Amid Monaco’s potential to change sessions on their heads, Russell concluded his post-Friday reflection by predicting a top-five result for him and Mercedes in Saturday’s qualifying.
