Hamilton Disheartened After FP2: 'One Of Worst Sessions I've Probably Had For Long Time'
F1Friday, 22 March 2024 at 10:30
Updated at Friday, 22 March 2024 at 10:32
The seven-time World Champion seemed very disappointed after the second practice session at Albert Park Circuit as he admitted it "obviously" didn't "feel great."
Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton came to the Australian Grand Prix weekend quite refreshed after a week break with new hope as he said the W15 is an amazing car.
The 39-year-old admitted he wasn't happy with how it performed during the first two races of the season, but he asserted there is a lot of potential in the car, which feels "much, much better" than what Mercedes had in the last two years.
Hamilton finished the FP1 session in P9, but only 0.207 seconds from the best time set by Lando Norris. However, FP2 seemed horrible for the seven-time World Champion- he put in only the 18th fastest time and was 1.557 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc in P1. He told the media after the session:
"I obviously don't feel great. We had one of the worst sessions I've probably had for a long time. FP1 generally felt quite good; the car actually in FP1, run one, felt the best it's ever felt, then it just got worse and worse."
"I made some changes, big changes into… well, we made some big changes into FP2, and it was tough."
The Mercedes driver was then asked whether there were some elements that would give him encouragement ahead of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, and he responded:
"After that session I feel the least confident I've ever felt with this car, but there are positives from that P1 run that we did."
At the end of the day, there is still one more practice session ahead, and the seven-time World Champion can always return to his original setup.
Hamilton's teammate, George Russell, didn't struggle as much as he was obviously on a different setup. The 25-year-old put in the sixth fastest time of the session—1:17.951, 0.674 seconds behind Leclerc.
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